Replay
by Myari
Summary: After being brought back to her original universe by the TARDIS and Bad Wolf, Rose finds herself in the body of her younger self, just before she met the Doctor. Will Rose be able to change her future or will History be doomed to repeat itself? Story inspired by 'The Wolf and The Storm'.
1. Chapter 1

**This work of fiction was inspired by 'The Wolf and The Storm' by Major-Fangirl-333**

* * *

 **Chapter One-**

Rose knew she was dreaming. Had to be. There was no other reason for her to be standing in the TARDIS. Rose let her eyes roam over the coral walls and the captain's chair before letting her eyes fall on the control station. She blinked in shock when, instead of the doctor, she found a beautiful woman with long dark brown hair that was half up in a messy updo. Rose knew she had never met this woman before, and yet something in her eyes seemed strangely familiar.

"I know you." Rose told the woman who smiled at her.

"Yes, you do." The woman told her and Rose stared at her. How did she know this woman? She was so familiar and yet, at the same time, a stranger. Looking in the woman's eyes Rose could see she was a lot older than she looked and had seen her far share of things. She was instantly reminded of the Doctor and, without thought, took a step forward.

"Are you the Doctor?" Rose asked uncertainly.

"No, I am not." The woman told her and Rose took a step away from her. If this woman wasn't the Doctor, who was she? What did she want from Rose? Even though this was a dream, Rose felt a wave a fear was over her. The Doctor wasn't here to save her, would never be there to save her any more.

 _"One the breach collapses, that's it, you won't ever be able to see her again!"_ The Doctor's voice rang through out the TARDIS, his voice desperate that she understood him.

"Where are you?" She hear herself ask looking around to try and find him. His voice had been so clear and loud, as if he had been right beside her.

 _"Inside the TARDIS."_ He told her, suddenly she was no longer standing inside the TARDIS, now she was standing on Bad Wolf bay. The woman was now next to her, her eyes taking everything in. The Doctor was standing across from them, faint and see through. This was a memory. A memory that Rose wanted to both forget and remember. Tears filled her eyes. This was a memory of the last time she would ever see her Doctor.

 _"There's one tiny little gap in the universe left. Just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection. I'm in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye."_ The Doctor sounded so sad that Rose wanted to reach out and touch him, even though she knew he wasn't really there, he was just a fragment of her imagination now.

"You look like a ghost." She told him, repeating exactly what she had told him that day.

 _"Hold on."_ He told her before beginning to fiddle with his screwdriver, and seconds later, his form became more solid. Rose chocked back a sob, he wasn't there, he would never be there! And yet, even though she knew that this Doctor wasn't real, she couldn't stop herself from walking closer to him. It hurt so much to see him, to know that he would never be there beside her. Would never grab her hand. Would never sneak into her room on the TARDIS late at night and watch her sleep. Would never hug her ever again.

"Can I...?" She asked knowing the answer already. Had he looked that sad during that day? Or was her imagination tampering with her memory? Right now, the Doctor looked as broken as she felt. It broke her heart even more, she couldn't stand seeing him look like that.

"Do you want to go back?" The woman asked dissolving the memory. Rose blinked and once again they were inside the TARDIS.

"Of course." Rose told her without hesitation. "But it can never happen. The gap is closed."

"There is away." The woman told her and Rose shook her head.

"Impossible." Rose told her causing the woman to smirk at her.

"But don't we just love impossible things, My Wolf?" The woman asked shocking Rose. The was only one being that called her that.

"You cant... How can..." Rose stumbled, her eyes taking in the woman seeing everything that she hadn't seen before... no, not hadn't seen before, but rather _refused_ to see. "But you are. You're the TARDIS." The woman smiled at her. "But how come you look like that?"

"This is just a projection of a form I have taken once before. Not not have, will. This is a projection of a form I will take." The TARDIS told her in confusion. "As you know it's all, what does he say? Wibbily-Wobbily Timey-Wimey. No, not does, will. He will say." The TARDIS looked off into the distance before shaking her head. "No time for that now. We must focus on getting you home." Excitement swelled inside her, before Rose remembered that this was just a dream.

"I'm dreaming." She muttered to herself sadly.

"But, My Wolf, this isn't just any old dream. I am the TARDIS. I get inside your head. And once I've been inside your head, I can enter it at any time I please, no matter how far you are. And since we are connected, it's so much easier to enter your mind than most." The TARDIS informed her.

"You mean, you're really here? I'm really talking to you?" Rose asked daring to let herself hope.

"Of course, My Wolf. I know your mind can be cruel to you, but I would never let it be _that_ cruel." The TARDIS told her softly and Rose threw her arms around the woman.

"So, there really is a way to get me home?" Rose asked.

"Of course. Mind you, what we're about to do is breaking every rule. And if we are not careful we could cause a paradox. A powerful paradox, one strong enough to rip both our universe and this universe to shreds." The TARDIS informed her and Rose dropped her arms from around the TARDIS to look at her in shocked terror. "But I am desperate. I've already tried everything I can think of with out breaking the laws of time and space. But My Theif is refusing to listen, refusing my help. He has shut himself off from the world. My Theif is drowning himself in the pain and loss he is feeling at losing you, My Wolf. And I am afraid that if we don't do something soon, then My Theif will kill himself."

Rose gasped. The Doctor was going to kill himself! It was just like the Game Station all over again. Rose couldn't let the Doctor kill himself! Not if there was away that she could save him.

"How do we save him?" Rose asked.

"The only way to safely get you back to him is to have you relive your life with him. That is the only way to safely do this with out him suspecting anything. If My Theif were to find out what we are doing, he will stop us, he will force us to put things right, no matter how much it would kill him to loose you again." The TARDIS explained.

"But, if he were to have just met me, he wouldn't be able to tell if I knew too much or not. If I were to play the cards right, I could just appear to be a very clever human to him." Rose said catching on to the plan.

"Correctomundo." The TARDIS said before wincing. "Oh, now I see why he never says that." Rose couldn't stop herself from laughing. "My Wolf, it is time, obviously you know not to let the Doctor know of this, and I must ask you to get him to ask you twice. This is important because this is the first time he has ever come back for someone." The TARDIS told her sternly.

"Right, don't be too suspicious and get him to ask twice." Rose nodded.

"Close your eyes." The TARDIS told her, and Rose did as she was told. For a split-second she felt light as a feather before a tingling sensation flew thew her body. Gold light shined bright behind her eyelids, and Rose had to force herself not to open her eyes when she heard the Wolf in her howl. And then, her body was heavy once more and her back was pressed tightly up against the wall. The sound of plastic rubbing against itself flew through her ears and she knew that she was her 19 year old shop-girl self, down in the basement of Henriks with the lottery money to give to Wilson, now dead.

Rose gasped in delighted shock when a rough, calloused hand gripped hers. Her heart jumped in her chest, she knew this hand. And though it had been years since she had last held it, she would never forget the feeling of it. This was the hand of her first Doctor. She allowed herself to open her eyes and look at the man in shock. He was there, standing in front of her. Her eyes took in his short brown hair, his steel-blue eyes, his large ears, and his leather jacket.

"Run!" He told her in his Northern Accent. Her grip on his hand tightened as she pushed off the wall and allowed him to lead her away from the living plastic. And just in time too, as one of the living plastic swung and cut a steam pipe in half.

As Rose and the Doctor burst though a set of blue metal doors to run down the corridor to the lift, Rose allowed herself to smile. She had missed this. Running with the Doctor by her side, hand in hand. That was their thing, hand in hand. She glanced behind them to find the living plastic following them. Rose remembered being terrified and confused when this had happened the first time. Now Rose found it thrilling and fun, but that was probably because now she knew that she wasn't in danger. She knew that the Doctor would keep her safe.

They burst through another set of blue metal doors and to the lift. The Doctor quickly pressed the button to call the lift and the doors opened instantly. The Doctor pulled her into the lift while glancing behind them at the living plastic. Rose quickly began pressing the button to get the doors to close as one of the living plastic reached in and tried to grab the Doctor. Rose watched the Doctor struggle with the living plastic before she quickly dove in and separated the arm from the body.

"Living plastic. Never start your day without them." She joked tossing the plastic arm at the Doctor, who easily caught it. He gave her a strange look.

"You deal with this often?" He asked tossing the arm back at her.

"Yeah, everyday that ends in '-y'." She told him sarcastically moving to stand at the back of the lift and watch him as he nervously watched the numbers on the lift go up. He paused in his nervous swaying to look at her incredulously.

"Seriously?!" He asked with barely hidden concern.

"No!" She told him with a slight laugh. "I was being sarcastic. Of course I don't deal with this often! But you certainly seem used to it." She added with her smile that was only for him. His eyes roamed her face, trying to see if she was telling the truth or not before sighing and rolling his eyes.

"You humans and your sarcasm. I swear you live off it." He said with a shake of his head.

"It's only because it's tasty." She told him jokingly. Her smile widened when she heard him give out a huff of a laugh before glancing at her again. He looked as if he were waiting for her to do something. "What?" She asked.

"You seem to be accepting this well." He told her. It finally dawned on Rose what he was waiting for, he was expecting her to start panicking.

"Well, what'd you expect? For me to scream? Cry? Demand to know if this was a trick with students dressed up as plastic dummies?" Rose asked with a laugh.

"Why would they be students?" The Doctor asked causing Rose to pause, of course that's what he would pick up on.

"I don't know." Rose told him, her mind flashing back to the first time. He had picked up on the student thing then too.

"Well, you said it. Why students?" The Doctor asked turning away from the lift doors to give her his full attention. She racked her brain, what had she said the first time?

"Cause... to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they got to be students. But, we already know they're not students It's living plastic." Rose told him motioning to the plastic arm in her hand.

"You're right." He told her turning back to the lift doors. "About the plastic." Rose smiled at his back before she remembered why she had originally gone down there.

"What about Wilson?" She asked confusing the Doctor enough to have him look at her.

"Who's Wilson?" He asked.

"Chief Electician." She informed him as he turned back towards the lift doors, his curiosity sated.

"Wilson's dead." The Doctor told her as the lift doors finally opened. And though Rose had already known that, she couldn't stop pain at the loss of an innocent man. Rose sighed and followed the Doctor out of the lift. "Mind your eyes." He told her before he soniced the button for the lift, causing it to spark and break, keeping the lift doors open and trapping the living plastic down in the basement.

"What is your plan?" Rose asked quickly following the Doctor when he turned and began to speed walk away from the now broken lift.

"As you've already figured out, those lot down there are made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. And they're being controlled by a relay device on the roof." The Doctor explained to her as he began to lead her towards the back door. "Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." He pulled out a crudely made bomb out of the inside pocket of his leather jacket and showed it to her as they came to the back door.

"So, I'm going upstairs and blow it up. And I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me." The Doctor told her, and Rose had to stop herself from demanding he take her too so she could keep him safe. And knowing that he would live helped her. The Doctor opened the back door and Rose stepped through it, turning to look at him. "No, you go home. Go on, go and have your lovely beans on toast." He ordered her with a forced smile. "Don't tell anyone about this, 'cause if you do, you'll get them killed." With that said he shut the door. Rose stayed where she was watching the door while counting down the seconds, knowing he would be back.

"I'm the Doctor, by the way." The Doctor told her as he opened the door again. "What's your name?"

"Rose. Rose Tyler." Rose told him with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you, Rose. Rose Tyler. Run for your life!" The Doctor told her smiling back at her while waving his bomb. Rose laughed after he shut the door again while shaking her head. God she had missed this. She quickly spun on the balls of her feet and ran as fast as she could, passing by the TARDIS. Rose had to force herself not to run into the TARDIS and forced her feet to take her back to her flat she shared with her mum. She had some planning to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two-

The next morning Rose was already up and about before her alarm went off at 7:30. She had a small bag that could pass as a purse with her passport, her money from under her mattress that she had been saving up to try and get her A-levels, her phone and a small letter to her mum, plus anything else she thought she might need. The second her alarm went off, Rose shut it off as her mother called to her. "There's no point getting up, sweetheart. You've no job to go to." Rose couldn't help but smile at that, she still had to be ready for when the Doctor dropped by. Rose sighed before leaving the room, shocking her mum by already being dressed, and dropped her small bag beside the couch where she could easily grab it. "You're up early."

"Thought I'd get ahead start on looking for a new job." Rose told her. Her mother nodded before going into the kitchen to make herself some tea as Rose absentmindedly flipped through the help wanted section in the newspaper.

"There's Finch's. You could try them. They've always got jobs." Her mother called out.

"Of course." Rose said, not really paying attention as she watched the clock. When had he gotten there the first time? Why hadn't she checked the clock the first time? But then again, she hadn't known the Doctor would wonder to her flat the first time. Should she go looking for him? No, she had to be in her flat when he got there. It'd be too suspicious if she was out looking for him.

"It might do you good. That shop was giving you airs and graces." Her mother told her, misreading her tone. Rose looked at her when she exited the kitchen. "I'm not joking about compensation. You've had genuine shock and trauma." Her mother told her as she began to head back to her room to finish getting ready. "Ariana got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek!" Rose laughed at that.

"But she is Greek." Rose said still laughing.

"That's not the point!" Her mother snapped at her as she entered her room. "It was a valid claim." Rose shot out of her chair when she heard the cat-flap and knew the Doctor was there. She had to fight the urge to throw open the door and bent down to look through the cat-flap to see the Doctor staring at her. Rose smiled and jumped up, throwing the door open and laughed at the Doctor's shocked and confused face.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"I live here." She told him with a slight laugh.

"What do you do that for?" The Doctor asked, his confusion hidden behind sarcasm.

"Cause I do. I'm only home 'cause someone blew up my job." Rose teased with a smirk as the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver.

"Must have got the wrong signal." He muttered as he turned the screwdriver on. Rose had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from telling him that the plastic arm he was looking for was hiding behind her couch. "You're not plastic are you?" He asked before lightly knocking on her forehead. "Nope, bonehead. Bye, then!" The Doctor said before turning to leave. Fear shot though Rose, he was about to leave her again! She couldn't let him leave her again! Without thanking, Rose quickly grabbed him by the back of his leather jacket. His shocked look snapped her back to reality.

"You, inside, right now." She ordered before dragging him into her flat.

"Who is it?" Her mother called from her room. Rose unconsciously took the Doctor by the hand before leading him to the living room. Peeking into her mother's room as she did so.

"It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us 10 minutes." Rose told her mother before continuing to lead the Doctor into the living room.

"She deserves compensation!" Her mother called out from her room as Rose forced the Doctor to sit on the sofa with her right beside him.

"Oh, were talkin' millions." The Doctor called back. Rose bit her lip watching as he awkwardly searched the room with his eyes. She had never felt more thankful that she had straightened up some last night than she had ever been.

"Right!" Rose cried out shooting up from the couch. "Do you want a coffee?"

"Might as well, thanks, just milk." The Doctor told her as she flew into the kitchen, her eyes never leaving him, ready to save him when the arm attacked. She watched as the Doctor slowly stood up from the couch and began to roam around the room. The Doctor picked up the magazine from the coffee table and began to flip through it. "That won't last. He's gay and she's an alien." He muttered. And had her hearing not been enhanced by Bad Wolf, she would have never heard him.

Rose blinked in confusion, technically this body had not looked into the Heart of the TARDIS. So how was it that this body now had some of the effects of Bad Wolf? The sensing of the Earth Turning and feeling some Timelines she could understand, that was a mental thing, and she had Bad Wolf in her mind. But the enhanced hearing was another thing. Rose bit her lip. She so desperately wanted to ask the Doctor about this, but she couldn't. She blinked once more as the image of Jack flashed through her mind before she shook it away and felt Bad Wolf huff in annoyance before she focused back on the Doctor.

The Doctor dropped the magazine back onto the coffee table before picking up a a book and read it lightning quick. "Mmm. Sad ending." He muttered dropping the book back onto the coffee desk. The Doctor walked over to their dining table, his eyes locking onto hers for a minute before he looked away as he picked up a piece of mail that had been left on the table. "Rose Tyler." He read off the envelope, causing a shiver of want to run down Rose's spine at the way he had said her name. When he spotted the small mirror hanging on the wall, he dropped the mail and began checking himself over. Just as had done after he had regenerated after the Game Station.

Rose gasped in shock. Had he just regenerated? Was this the first time he had been able to get a look at himself? "Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears!" The Doctor complained and Rose had to stop herself from claiming how much she loved his ears in this form. Of course they could never compete with his big, brown, puppy-dog eyes in his next form, but he was still very handsome in this form, ears and all. Rose continued to watch him with a small smile as he tried to figure out who he was in this body.

"Luck be a lady." The Doctor said in a sing-song voice as he picked up a deck of cards. He shuffled them for a bit before they flew out of his hands and scattered all over the living room floor. "Maybe not." He muttered. Rose straightened up when she heard the pitter-patter of the arm running across the floor.

"What's that then?" The Doctor asked, having also heard the noise. Rose began to make her way out of the kitchen as the Doctor walked back over to the couch, where the sound had come from. "Have you got a cat?" He asked looking behind the couch. Rose flew over to him when the arm began to choke him. She quickly pulled the arm off him and began to fight it when it turned and tried to choke her.

"Doctor!" She cried out in reflex just before it latched onto her face, cutting off her air supply. Rose and the Doctor began to fight the arm trying to get it off of her face. They crashed into the glass table, shattering it, with her on top of the Doctor as they continued to fight the arm.

Somewhere in the back of Rose's mind, she wondered what her mother was doing and why she hadn't run into the room during all this commotion. She felt the Doctor roll them over and pin her beneath him, and was thankful that her ability to hold her breath longer than normal humans had also seemed to pass over to her younger self. That was, once again, thanks to Bad Wolf. Rose heard the sound of the Sonic Screwdriver just seconds before the arm released her face to allow her to take a deep breath.

"Cutting it a bit close there, Doctor." Rose gasped out with a small smile. The Doctor tossed the arm beside them before he ran shaky hands across her face and through her hair.

"You're safe." He told her softly, and Rose had a feeling he had said that more to himself than her as she nodded having finally caught her breath.

"Yeah. But you won't if my mum comes in here and finds us like this." Rose told him jokingly as she lightly squeezed her legs around his slim hips. She couldn't help chuckling at the Doctor when his face turned bright red before he jumped off her. He held out his hand to her and she gladly took it, allowing him to help her up.

"Right, lots to do." The Doctor said quickly bending down to pick up the arm before bolting out the door. Rose grabbed her bag and took off after him, she was not going to let him get away that easily.

"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off!" Rose called after him as they jogged down the stairs of her building.

"Yes. I can. Here I am. This is me, swanning off, see ya!" The Doctor told her in a tone that she had heard him use whenever she had caught him doing anything embarrassing. Rose smirked at that, he was embarrassed!

"That arm just tried to kill me!" Rose pointed out.

"Ten out of ten for observation." The Doctor snapped at her. She didn't take it to heart knowing that he would be testy until he got over his embarrassment.

"I'm not letting you walk away." She informed him. "You're going to tell me what's going on."

"No, I'm not." The Doctor gowled out to her. She was pushing his buttons, she knew that. But she also knew which buttons to push to get him to do what she wanted.

"I'm involved in this now, rather you like it or not. You can't get rid of me." Rose told him as they exited the building. The Doctor whipped his head around to look at her.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" The Doctor asked, his eyes narrowed as he tried to read her.

"No, it's a promise." She told him with a soft smile as they sped walked across the Estate.

"A promise can break." The Doctor told her.

"Not this one." Rose told him. "Who are you?" She asked quickly changing the subject before the Doctor could question her and get her to say something she shouldn't and expose the plan.

"Told you, the Doctor." The Doctor told her with a warm smile.

"Doctor What?" Rose asked already knowing the answer. She also knew that the Doctor loved this part, it was one of his favorite part of meeting people. His other favorite part was hearing his new companions telling him that the outside of the TARDIS was smaller than the inside.

"Just the Doctor." The Doctor told her with a laugh.

"The Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Hello." He said with a smirk causing Rose to laugh.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" She teased him with her own smirk.

"Sort of." The Doctor told her, his smirk slipping a little when he didn't get the reaction he was hoping for. Rose smiled at him before latching onto his arm and resting her chin on his shoulder, looking up at him through her eyelashes. She was flirting with him, but she couldn't help it, she loved him.

"Come on then, you can tell me. I've seen enough." Rose told him softly and felt him tense up slightly before relaxing. "I'm smarter than you think. I'll understand it. I know that the living plastic is only targeting me because of you, I also know they won't stop coming after me. They want to use me to get to you."

"Oh, so the entire world revolves around you, does it?" The Doctor asked teasingly. Rose knew he was trying to stall for time, hoping that she would get bored or frustrated and leave on her own. She smirked, there was no chance in hell she would leave him now.

"I know the world doesn't revolve around me. Just like I know the only reason that the arm tried to kill me was because it was after you." Rose told him. "Just like last night, in the shop, you were there and I blundered in."

"Almost ruined the whole thing." The Doctor cut in glaring at her. And had Rose not known him as well as she did, she wouldn't have seen that his glare was more playful than angry.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." Rose said playfully smirking at him, not actually sorry. "And then this morning, you were tracking it down, and it was tracking you down."

"How do you know that?" The Doctor asked suspiciously.

"It's obvious when you look at the facts." Rose told him resting her cheek on his leather clad shoulder and breathed in the smell of the leather. She was going to enjoy this Doctor for as long as she had him. "The only reason it fixed on me was because of you. So, as I said before, I'm involved in this now."

"So, what you're saying is the entire world revolved around me?" The Doctor asked teasingly.

"Yup." She said popping her 'p' as she lifted her head up enough to look at him.

"That sounds about right, yeah." The Doctor joked back with his goofy grin. They stayed staring at each other for a long minute before they burst out laughing.

"You're full of it." She teased causing him to laugh louder.

"Sort of, yeah." He teased back.

"I'm guessing that we're the only ones who know about the living plastic?" Rose asked sobering up, knowing the answer.

"Just us." The Doctor confirmed.

"You're not on your own, are you?" Rose asked fight back her tears at the thought of her Doctor traveling through time and space all on his own, having just regenerated.

"Well, who else is there?" The Doctor asked, his tone light as he tried to make fun of the situation, but his eyes were dark and lonely. "I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time underneath you, there's a war going on." Rose sucked in a breath at the mention of a war. And logically she knew he wasn't talking about the Time War, but that still didn't stop her mind from bringing up the images she had imagined when the Doctor had first told her about the Time War. She would not allow her Doctor to be alone any longer.

"Okay. Start from the beginning." Rose ordered tightening her grip on his arm. The Doctor looked at her in shock before he maneuvered the arm in her grip to take hold of one of her hands while still allowing her to keep ahold of him. And he explained everything to her as they continued to walk around the Estate, ignoring the looks and whispers they were getting. Rose knew what everyone was whispering about, she was still dating Mickey and they knew that. And yet, here she was with another man being all lovey-dovey. She would have to properly break up with Mickey this time around.

"Right, so we've got living plastic. So there is obviously something controlling it. How do we stop it?" Rose asked.

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal. Dead." The Doctor explained.

"Thought control? Or is it radio control?" Rose asked.

"Thought control." The Doctor confirmed and Rose nodded.

"It's alien, so thought control makes sense." Rose muttered just loud enough for the Doctor to hear.

"How do you know it's alien." The Doctor asked, his tone letting her know this was a test. He was trying to test her deduction skills.

"Nothing on earth can do something like this. At least, not that I know of." Rose informed him.

"You're right." The Doctor told her with a gentle squeeze of her hand.

"So who's controlling it?" Rose asked.

"Long story." The Doctor told her and Rose playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"What's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britian's shops?" Rose joked causing the Doctor to laugh, his laugh was contagious and soon she was laughing with him.

"No." The Doctor told her while still laughing.

"So, it's not a price war?" Rose asked jokingly, happy that he was smiling. This Doctor didn't smile or laugh nearly as much as she wanted him to. They both laughed loudly as the Doctor unconsciously leaned his head atop hers.

"They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you." The Doctor informed her as they sobered up. "Do you believe me?" He asked her softly, his voice barely above a whisper. They stared at each other for a long minute before Rose nodded.

"Of course." She whispered to him confusing him.

"Why? I just told you the most ridiculous thing anyone could come up with, and yet you believe me, just like that?" The Doctor asked as they came to a stop.

"Of course." Rose repeated. "It's your eyes. I can look at them and see that you're telling the truth. They tell me that you've seen your fair share of nasties, that you've been through hell and back." Rose told him and had to stop herself from telling him that he didn't have to be alone anymore, that she was there with him now. "Who are you, Doctor?" She whispered not actually asking for his name. And with the way the Doctor was staring at her, Rose knew he understood what she was asking. His grip on her hand tightened just a little.

"Do you know like we were saying? About the Earth revolving?" He asked her softly and Rose nodded. "It's like when you're a kid. The first time they tell you that the world's turning and you just can't believe it 'cause everything looks like it's standing still." The Doctor looked away from her, his eyes becoming distant. She knew he was feeling the Earth moving, the Timelines flowing, the universe growing. She knew because she could feel it too, through Bad Wolf.

"I can feel it." He whispered to her looking into her eyes once more. Rose had to stop herself from telling him that she could feel it as well. She was supposed to be human, and humans didn't feel things like that. "The turn of the Earth." The Doctor continued pulling her away from her thoughts. "The ground beneath our feet is spinning at 1,000 miles an hour. And the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at 67,000 nukes an hour. I can feel it, we're falling though space, you and me." Rose felt her heart sped up and her breath began to come out as pants. She wasn't afraid or scared of him, no, it was at times like these that Rose truly understood how much she loved this man, how much she wanted him.

"Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world," The Doctor continued as they stared into each other's eyes, each forgetting the world around them, "and if we let go..." As if in sync, the Doctor and Rose let go of each other. The loss of contact with the other seemed to snap them back to reality. "That's who I am." He told her, and she understood more than he thought she did.

"Now forget me, Rose Tyler." The Doctor ordered sadly as he took a step away from her and towards the TARDIS that Rose just realized was less than ten feet away from them. "Go home." Rose watched the Doctor walk away from her, her heart aching to run after him. But it wasn't time for her to enter the TARDIS yet, she still had things to do. Rose smiled sadly as the TARDIS brushed up against her mind in a soothing manner before she dematerialized. Soon, she would be home. Soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three-**

After the Doctor had left in the TARDIS Rose sighed and made her way to Mickey's. She had someone to look up, and a way for the Nestene Consciousness to get Mickey. After a quick online search she found Clive, and after a much longer time, she convinced Mickey to take her to see him. And as Rose had listened to Clive talk to her about the Doctor, she had Bad Wolf look into his timeline to see if she could save him. She could not. After her meeting with Clive, she allowed the plastic Micky to take her to eat pizza.

"Do you think I should try the hospital? I think I'd be really good at running around and helping a doctor." Rose asked with a small smirk at her little inside joke while biding her time for the Doctor to show up. "I could do A-levels. I don't know." Rose smiled at the awkward living plastic, trying to figure out how she hadn't noticed the first time. "What do you think?"

"So where did you meet this Doctor?" The plastic-Mickey asked.

"No, you're not going to get that information out of me." Rose told the living plastic.

"Cause I reckon it all started back at the shop, am I right?" The plastic-Mickey continued and Rose shook her head with a smile.

"Nope, my lips are sealed." Rose told it.

"Come on." The plastic-Mickey said with a smirk before reaching out to try and grab her hand, but Rose nonchalantly moved her hand away. She had learned her lesson the first time, she wasn't going to let him grab her this time. "What was he doing there?"

"Secret." Rose told him with a smile. This game was kind of fun this time around, now that she knew the rules and what would happen.

"But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, darling, sugar..." The plastic said as it started to malfunction. Rose had to keep herself from laughing. "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose. That's all I want to do, sweetheart. Darling, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart." The plastic said malfunctioning again. Rose let out a snort.

"Seems you're malfunctioning, just a little." Rose said with a smirk as the Doctor made his way over to them with a champagne bottle. He was there to save her, just like she knew he would. All though, this time she didn't actually need saving.

"Your champagne." The Doctor said offering the champagne to the plastic.

"We didn't order any champagne." The plastic told the Doctor without looking away from Rose. She watched the Doctor walk around Mickey to stand in front of her. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Madam, your champagne." The Doctor offered her the bottle.

"Why thank you, kind sir." Rose said with a smile, taking the bottle, shaking it up before pointing it at the plastic just as he spotted the Doctor beside her. "Cheers, mate!" She cried before popping the cork. It flew at the plastic-Mickey and hit him in the middle of his forehead, his plastic head absorbed it before he spit it back out.

"Anyway!" The plastic-Mickey said before moving to launch over the table at the Doctor, but Rose kicked the table flipping it over to land on the stunned plastic. She hopped onto the over turned table, pressing all her weight on it and grabbed the plastic-Mickey by the head. Now that the Doctor was here, she was free to act. Rose quickly pulled the plastic-Mickey's head off before allowing the Doctor to take her by the arm and pull her away.

"Don't think that's gonna stop me." The head in her hands said before the headless body threw the table off him and got up before it began to flail. The restaurant quickly flew into a panic before the Doctor hit the fire alarm.

"Everyone, out! Out now!" The Doctor ordered. The guest ran towards the front of the restaurant while Rose allowed the Doctor to pull her towards the back, where she knew the TARDIS was waiting for them. When they burst out the back door into the closed in area out back, Rose couldn't stop the bark of laughter that flew out of her mouth. She twirled and spun as the Doctor used his screwdriver to seal the back door as the headless plastic-Mickey began to try and beat it down. Rose tossed the head into the air, catching it before calmly following the Doctor into the TARDIS, smiling as the TARDIS nuzzled into her mind.

 _Welcome home, My Wolf._ The TARDIS sung in her mind as Rose allowed herself to look around the room with a large smile. She was finally home.

"So, we're safe in here, yeah?" Rose asked tossing the head to the Doctor, who quickly caught it and began to scan it.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door. Believe me, they've tried! Now, hush up a minute." the Doctor told her before he began to hook the head up to the TARDIS letting her locate where the Nestene Consciousness was. Rose slowly walked around the console room allowing her hand to run along every coral pillar as she soaked up the feeling of finally being home.

"You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." The Doctor explained before turning to look at her. "Right. Where do want to start?"

"She beautiful." Rose whispered knowing he could hear her as her eyes roamed the room.

"No." The Doctor said causing Rose to look at him, she laughed at his confused face. He had not expected that.

"You find her ugly?" Rose asked teasingly causing the Doctor to lightly blush.

"That's not what I meant. All I meant is that's not what you're supposed to say. And how did you know she was a she?" The Doctor asked walking over to her as Rose began to lovingly pet the coral pillar next to her.

"She's a ship, right?" Rose asked and the Doctor nodded. "Well, aren't all ships feminine? But I'll take a guess and say that she's alien."

"Yeah. How'd you know?" The Doctor asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"It's obvious. Take a look around you, anyone with a brain can see that this is not human technology. The outside is made to look smaller than the inside. And there's this-this strange feeling in the air. It's as if your ship is alive." Rose told him, giving him her smile that was meant only for him.

"You're clever, Rose Tyler. I'll give you that."

"Are you alien?" Rose asked watching as he tensed up. Did he expect her to run away from him.

"Yes. Is that alright?" The Doctor asked stiffly and Rose smiled at him before latching onto his arm.

"Of course. You're still the same man from this morning, the one that saved my life. Your eyes are still the same as they were when we met. The fact that you're not human doesn't change a thing." Rose told him truthfully. She felt him relax in her arms and smiled at him.

"You're an odd one, Rose Tyler." The Doctor whispered to her. Rose stood on her tippy-toes and kissed his cheek.

"I take that as a complement." Rose told him before letting go of his arm and spun around with a large smile. "So, what's her name?"

"She's called the TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S, that's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." The Doctor informed her with a smile as she looked back at him, he was so adorable when he bragged about his ship.

"So, tell me, why a Police Public Call Box?" Rose asked.

"It's a disguise." The Doctor told her.

"Okay. How's that work? Is there a device embedded in the TARDIS that makes her appear as something that will help her blind in?" The Doctor nodded. "Okay. So, going by logic here, you must have landed somewhere they had Police Public Call Boxes, which could have only been in the 50's. The device malfunctioned and got stuck, leaving the TARDIS to continue to appear as a Police Public Call Box." Rose continued before looking at the Doctor. "TARDIS: Time And Relative Dimension In Space? Is she a time machine as well as a space ship?"

"How'd you figure that out?" The Doctor asked in amazed shock.

"I just put all the facts and clues together before coming to a conclusion." Rose told him with a smirk as the TARDIS laughed in her mind.

"Rose Tyler, you are a clever little ape." The Doctor breathed out.

"I have a question." Rose told him.

"Shoot... I never got that phrase. What are you shooting? You're obviously not shooting a gun at me, so why would I say that? It's sort to stupi-" Rose cut off the Doctor's ramblings by kissing him on the lips. Rose slowly pulled away from the kiss, blushing. When the Doctor had started rambling Rose couldn't stop the warm feeling of love in her heart, nor did she want to stop it. And then, without thought, she had kissed him.

"Sorry, you were rambling. Don't know why I did that." Rose whispered against his lips.

"It's fine." The Doctor whispered back before shaking himself out of the stooper she had seemed to put him in as he unconsciously took hold of her hand. "Right, your question?"

"You sound like you're from the North. So, does every planet have a North or is there some other reason?" Rose asked.

"Lots of planets have a North." The Doctor told her as the sound of melting plastic hit her ears, Rose glanced around the Doctor to look at the console.

"Um, Doctor, the head's melting." Rose told him.

"What?" The Doctor asked spinning to look at the console. "Aw, no, no, no, no!" He cried running over to the melting head, dragging her with him since he had yet to let go of her hand. Not that you'd catch her complaining about that, mind you. The Doctor began to quickly hit buttons and flip switches, all while holding her hand. Rose had to stamp down the urge to help him. He had technically just met her, he didn't know her or trust her enough to allow her to touch the controls to his ship.

"Have we lost the signal?" Rose asked.

"No, but it's fading!" The Doctor told her as the TARDIS began to dematerialize. "Wait a minute. I've got it." He told her. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there, almost there. Here we go!" The Doctor cried as the TARDIS materialized else where. Rose allowed the Doctor to lead her, by the hand, out of the TARDIS. "I lost the signal. I got so close!" He growled out as he forced them to start pacing, she refused to let go of his hand and he seemed to have forgotten he was still holding her hand.

"We've moved." Rose said, knowing it would be suspicious if she didn't at least say something about it. "It doesn't fly? Does it?"

"It disappears there and reappears here." The Doctor told her distracted, and Rose knew that his mind was racing to try and figure out how to find the Nestene Consciousness.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the headless body has melted along with the head." Rose said as they leaned up against the wall separating the street from the river.

"Are you going to witter on all night?" The Doctor snapped at her and Rose felt her hackles rice. It wasn't her fault that he had lost the signal, he didn't need to take his frustration out on her!

"Hey! I'm just trying to make sense of all this! 'Cause unlike you, I don't do this every day!" Rose snapped back at him before her thoughts turned to Mickey. And even though she knew he was going to be physically alright, he was no doubt scared out of his mind. "Poor Mickey." She muttered causing the Doctor to look at her in confusion. "Mickey, the person the living plastic was trying to mimic. You forgot about that didn't you?"

"Look if I did forget some kid called Mickey..." The Doctor growled out.

"He's not a kid." Rose snapped back automatically.

"... it's because I'm trying save the life of every stupid ape blundering about on this planet, all right?" The Doctor continued as if he hadn't heard her.

"All right!" Rose cried.

"Yes, it is!" The Doctor growled as the two stood there glaring at each other while panting. Their augments had always been fierce and passionate.

"And, this living plastic, what's it got against us?" Rose asked trying to bring them back to the problem at hand.

"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet, lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air. Perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war," Rose had to fight from tensing up at the mention of the Time War knowing that it was still fresh for him, "it's protein planets rotted. So Earth. Dinner." The Doctor finished while miming eating.

"Right, so how do we find it?" Rose asked and the Doctor snapped his head around and continued looking.

"How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hide what?" Rose asked.

"The transmitter!" The Doctor snapped at her, as if having expected her to have already figured it out. "The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?" Rose asked him letting her eyes roam the street around them.

"Like a transmitter!" The Doctor told her and Rose gave him a blank look. Even though she knew what the transmitter was, to be able to point it out to him without looking suspicious she needed just a little more information from him. "Round and massive, somewhere slap-bang in the middle of London. A huge, metal, circular structure like a dish, like a wheel, radial."

"Oh, you mean that?" Rose asked pointing to the Eye of London that was across the river from them. The Doctor turned to look at the Eye of London before looking back at her.

"Oh." The Doctor said before pulling releasing her hand to gently grab her face and kiss her. "Fantastic!" He cried once he broke away from the kiss as he took her hand in his again before they took off running to the Eye of London.

"Think of it. Plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to be alive." The Doctor panted out once they made it to the Eye. "The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables."

"The breast implants." Rose joked with a smirk causing the Doctor to shake his head at her with a small smile. If only Jack were here, he would have jumped right onto that joke and rode it as far as he could. The image that thought just created caused her to blush. She had hung around Jack way too much.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath." The Doctor told her as Rose looked around for the hatch that would lead them to the underground sewer. Rose dropped the Doctor's hand, receiving a worried look from the man, as she ran towards the ledge over looking the river shore.

"What about down here?" Rose called to the Doctor and seconds later was joined by him.

"Looks good to me." He told her taking her hand and led her towards the hatch. The Doctor quickly opened it and they carefully climbed down the ladder, the Doctor going first. At the bottom, the Doctor helped her down all while looking around the small room. They made their way to the only door out of the room and opened it as quietly as it would let them. They walked onto a metal landing leading off to rickety metal stairs in a huge room. "The Nestene Consciousness." The Doctor told her nodding his head to the giant red-orange blob inside a vat. "That's it, inside the vat, a living plastic creature."

"Right, so, I'm sure you have a back up plan encase talking with it doesn't work?" Rose asked as she searched the huge room for Mickey.

"Why'd you think I was going to talk to it first instead of killing it?" The Doctor asked.

"If you did that, then what would make you better than it?" Rose whispered back causing the Doctor to smile at her before he pulled out a small vial of bright blue liquid.

"Would you like to try and guess what's in here?" The Doctor teased shaking the vial.

"I'm guessing that since the Nestene Consciousness is plastic that that vial holds something called a very literal name, say Anti-Plastic?" Rose 'guessed' causing the Doctor to look at her in shock. "What?"

"That's right. This is Anti-plastic. This is a very literal name because it's used on plastic and is supposed to melt-" Rose kissed him again, stopping him from rambling.

"Sorry, but we don't have time for you to ramble right now." She whispered against his lips, liking this new way of stopping the Doctor's long-winded ramblings.

"Yes, right, sorry." The Doctor mumbled taking her hand in his once more before leading her down the stairs of the scaffolding towards the Nestene Consciousness. "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The Nestene Consciousness gargled out a reply as Rose's eyes landed on Mickey huddled in a corner. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach." The Nestene Consciousness gargled once more, giving them consent.

"Mickey!" Rose cried, releasing the Doctor's hand to rush to Mickey, allowing him to focus on the Nestene Consciousness.

"Rose!" Mickey cried out and latched on to her the second she was close enough. "That thing, down there... The liquid, Rose, it can talk!" Mickey told her as he clung to her.

"I know. But you're fine. Everything is going to be alright. The Doctor will make sure of it." Rose told him as the Doctor walked by them, glaring at Mickey, jealousy clear in his eyes. Rose lovingly rolled her eyes at him before standing up to get a good view of his conference with the Nestene Consciousness, ready to jump in and save him like last time.

"Am I addressing the Consciousness?" The Doctor asked coming to a stop just above the open vat. "Thank you. If I may observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warped, shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" The Doctor said with a smirk causing Rose to giggle at his little joke. Hearing her, the Doctor glanced at her with a wink before focusing back on the Nestene Consciousness when it growled at him.

"Oh don't give me that!" The Doctor growled back. "This is an invasion, plan and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The Nestene Consciousness hissed and growled while flailing about in the vat, clearly agitated. "I AM TALKING!" The Doctor roared at it causing the Nestene Consciousness to stop. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learned how to walk. But they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf, please, just go."

"Doctor!" Rose yelled as a couple of dummies ran up behind him and grabbed him as the Nestene Consciousness hissed and growled. One of the dummies reached into the Doctor's jacket and pulled out the vial of Anti-Plastic.

"That was just insurance! I wasn't gonna use it!" The Doctor cried as the Nestene Consciousness hissed and growled louder. "I was not attacking you! I'm here to help! I'm not your enemy, I swear, I'm not!" The Nestene Consciousness continued to hiss and growl. "What do you mean?" A door beside Rose and Mickey opened to reveal the TARDIS.

"Right, Mickey, you'll be safe in there." Rose whispered to Mickey before pushing him towards the TARDIS, knowing that it was about time to save the Doctor. Mickey ran to the TARDIS, expecting Rose to follow him while she ran towards the chain she had used last time.

"No, no, no! Honestly, no." The Doctor cried out as she grabbed the axe and waited. Watching the Doctor and the Nestene Consciousness for the perfect time to save the Doctor. "Yes, that's my ship." The Nestene Consciousness squealed harshly at him. "That's not true! I should know, I was there. I fought in the wars. It wasn't my fault!" The Doctor cried and Rose flinched at the mention of the Time War. "I couldn't save your world. I couldn't save any of them.

"Right, time to end this. Once again, I haven't got my A-levels, I fell in love with a Time Traveling Alien, got left. And now I'm reliving my time with the Doctor. But hey, I still have a bronze in Gymnastics." Rose muttered to herself as she swung at the chain, easily cutting it from the wall with the help of Bad Wolf. She quickly dropped the axe, took hold of the chain and swung towards the Doctor and the two dummies. The Doctor used that distraction to toss the dummy that was holding him into the Nestene Consciousness, destroying the dummy. Rose kicked the dummy that held the vial of Anti-Plastic into the Nestene Consciousness.

"Rose!" The Doctor yelled as the Nestene Consciousness began to crack, he quickly grabbed her on her swing back. He held her as close to him as he could, his eyes roaming over her, checking her for injuries. The Nestene Consciousness whined, pulling their attention away from each other and back to it. "Now we're in trouble!" The Doctor told her with a large grin on his face before taking her hand and leading her as quickly as he could to the TARDIS, pulling out the key with his free hand. The room began to explode as the Doctor rushed to unlock the TARDIS. Once the TARDIS was unlocked, the Doctor kicked Mickey inside before pulling Rose in after himself.

Mickey huddled near the door, eyes wide in shock and fear as he took in the TARDIS for the first time. Rose and the Doctor quickly passed him towards the console where the Doctor began the dematerialization sequence. Rose couldn't stop the annoyance that filled her when Mickey whimpered in fear, she knew that he would get used to it, but it still annoyed her that Mickey was afraid of the TARDIS. She lightly smiled when the TARDIS nudged against her mind soothingly, letting her knew that she wasn't offended by Mickey's reaction. Even reminding her of Rose's first reaction to seeing her the first time.

After they had materialized in the back alley behind her building, Rose let go of the Doctor's hand to walk over to the doors and open it. She sighed lightly when Mickey, in his haste to leave the TARDIS, pushed her out of the way. Rose rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone to call her mum, knowing that she had been out shopping when all this happened.

"Rose, don't go out of the house, it's not safe!" Was the first thing her mother told her and Rose laughed before hanging up on her. Her mother was safe, that's all she needed to know.

"Fat lot of good you were!" Rose growled out to Mickey, making her way over to the man trying to hide behind some rubbish. She grabbed Mickey's arms and started to try and pull him up. He whimpered and pointed behind them. Rose looked over and smiled at the Doctor.

"Nestene Conspicuousness? Easy!" The Doctor said proudly.

"You were useless in there! You'd be dead if it weren't for me." She told him playfully. The loving look he gave her caused her heart to skip a few beats.

"Yes, I would." The Doctor admitted. "Thank you." Rose bit her lip to keep herself from running over to him and kissing him. This was when he was going to ask her to join him, she had to get ready to deny him and make him come back to ask her once more.

"Right, then. I'll be off. Unless... I don't know." The Doctor looked nervous. "You could come with me." He said trying to sound nonchalant, Rose felt her heart stop, knowing that she had to tell him no, that she had to get him to come back. "This box isn't just a London-op, but you already knew that. It goes anywhere in the Universe. Free of charge."

"Don't!" Mickey cried, latching onto her legs, nearly causing her to fall. "He's an alien. He's a thing."

"He's not invited." The Doctor growled out, eyes flashing in jealousy as he glared at Mickey. Rose had always found the Doctor quite sexy when he was jealous. His eyes locked on to hers, and the smoldering look that he held in them causing her to gulp. "What do you think?"

 _Remember, My Wolf, you have to make his ask twice._ The TARDIS sung in her head. Rose opened her mouth to deny him, but the words got caught in her throat as fear gripped her. _He will come back. I promise, My Wolf. He will always come back for you._

"You could stay here. Fill you life with work and food and sleep," The Doctor told her, and Rose knew he was trying to tempt her into coming with him. Rose bit her lip. He'd come back to her. "Or you could go... Anywhere. With me." He finished.

"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked finally getting her mouth to work properly.

"Yeah." The Doctor smirked at her flirtatiously. Mickey tightened his hold on her, reminding her that he was there.

"Yeah, I can't." She chocked out, forcing herself not to tear up at the heart broken look in the Doctor's shocked eyes. He hadn't expected her to deny him. With all the kissing and hand holding and cuddling they had done, the Doctor had expected her to instantly accept. It tore her up inside. "I've, um, I've gotta go and, um, find my mum" Her throat tightened up as she continued to fight from tearing up. Realization flashed through his eyes, he had realized she actually did want to go but was keeping herself from agreeing. "And someone's gotta look after this stupid lump, so..."

"Okay." The Doctor said, once again glaring at Mickey. "See you around." He said locking watery eyes with her before slowly backing into the TARDIS and shutting the door, as if to give her time to change her mind. Rose forced herself to stay where she was. She gave a shuttering breath as the TARDIS began to dematerialize.

"Right. Listen, we don't have much time." Rose told Mickey forcing him to stand, using a little of the strength she had gained from Bad Wolf, shocking Mickey. "No, shush." She ordered when Mickey began to open his mouth to question her.

"First things first: I love you Mickey, but I'm not in love with you like you are with me. So, I'm breaking up with you. Shush." She ordered when Mickey went to object. "Next, when he comes back, I'm going to go with him. You, Mickey, will then go to my flat, give my mum this when she returns." She quickly dug in her bag and pulled out the letter she had written the night before and handed it to him. "I'm going to be gone a year. Don't worry. Tell my mum I'll call her whenever I can. I have my passport. Mickey, I'm trusting you with this." Mickey could do nothing but look at her in shock and nod. Seconds later the TARDIS materialized in the same spot it had just been a few minutes ago. The Doctor poked his head out of the TARDIS.

"By the way, I know you've already figured this out, but she is also a Time Machine." He told her with a smile. Rose smiled at him before running into the TARDIS never looking back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four-**

Rose ran into the TARDIS and straight into the Doctor's awaiting arms. She laughed loudly and hugged him close. She was finally home! "Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me, where do you wanna go?" The Doctor asked as Rose began to spin them causing them to laugh. "Backwards or forwards in time? It's your choice. What's it gonna be?"

"First, why don't you set the TARDIS to drift between time and space-"

"The rift." The Doctor corrected her, not even sounding surprised.

"Ya, the rift, so that we can get to know each other, that way we can trust each other a little more." Rose said.

"But that's so... domestic." The Doctor whined.

"Oh hush, you. I'm not talking about sitting down in front of a fire with cups of tea to chat our lives away. We'll just say ten words or phrases that describe us. This way we learn about each other without giving too much away-" Rose stared.

"-Making it a mini mystery to solve!" The Doctor cried out joyously.

"Exactly! So how 'bout it?" Rose asked. Her answer was the Doctor letting her go so that he could set the TARDIS to drift in the rift.

"Right, you first." The Doctor said once they were adrift, leaning back against the console watching her.

"Okay." Rose said and began to walk around the room, thinking of what she could say without him catching on to what was happening. She smiled when the TARDIS began to sing her some words and phrases. "Puzzle, loved and left, stars, pink and yellow, loop-de-loop mixed with timey-wimey stuff, shop-girl, no dad, human, Rose Tyler: Defender Of The Earth, and Bad Wolf."

"Some of those phrases seem to be a bit too advanced for an ape." The Doctor said slightly suspicious but Rose laughed and waved it off.

"Maybe, but you said it yourself, I'm odd." Rose told him playfully causing the Doctor to smile at her.

"That you are, Rose Tyler." He agreed.

"Your turn." Rose said walking over to him before hopping to a stop in front of him.

"TARDIS, time traveler, alone, leather jacket, Last Time Lord, Gallifrey, regeneration, telepathic, timelines, paradoxes." The Doctor told her and Rose hummed in thought.

"Do you have a library I could use to look some of those words up." She asked playfully causing the Doctor to laugh. "Right, let's see if I can guess what any of that meant."

"Go ahead." The Doctor said, his tone telling her that he didn't believe she could guess half of it right.

"I'm guessing that you are a Time Lord from 'Gallifrey', we've already established that you're an alien which means we need a species and a planet to go with it. Gallifrey sounds like the perfect name for a planet that would hold the Time Lord species on it. You said you were the 'Last Time Lord' and spoke of a war while conversing with the Nestene Consciousness, so putting those two facts together leads me to believe that there was a war that destroyed the rest of your people leaving you the sole survivor, which would explain the 'alone'." Rose paused to think up of a good way to explain the rest of his words and phrases.

"I'm going to say that the Time Lord species are 'telepathic' and watch over 'timelines' to prevent 'paradoxes', hence the name Time Lords. 'Regenerations' has something to do with you becoming new because regenerate means 're-grow' or 'bring into renewed existence'. When we first met, you didn't seem to recognize your own face in the mirror, which leads me to believe that 'regenerations' for you mean that you change your face and personalities, or close to it.

"'Time traveler' is easy. You've already confirmed more than once that the TARDIS can travel through time. So you use your 'TARDIS' to travel through time becoming a 'Time traveler'. And last but not least: 'leather jacket'. That one is also easy, you said it because you wear this leather jacket all the time-" Rose was cut off when the Doctor pulled her into a kiss. "I wasn't rambling." She whispered against his lips.

"Neither was I the last time." The Doctor told her before giving her one last kiss. "Right, my turn to guess your words and phrases."

"It's only fair." Rose told him with a smile.

"I'm going to do them in the order you said, just telling you ahead of time." He told her with a smirk causing Rose to laugh. "You're a 'puzzle' to be put together 'cause one second you seem to have no idea what is going on and the next you do. You drop hints at every turn and yet at the same time say nothing about you. 'Loved and left' probably means that you fell in love and that person left you, and the way you said it told me that it wasn't mutual for either party. 'Stars', I'm guessing, has been something you wanted to see when you got older. A dream for the child in you.

"'Pink and yellow' seems to be easy enough, from the clothes you're wearing today and the ones you were wearing yesterday, and then there was all the pink in your room, I'd say that pink is your favorite color. Your hair is blonde. So, favorite color is pink and blonde hair, you're a pink and yellow girl. And the way you said it with a soft smile, it's probably a nick name.

"'Loop-de-loop mixed with timey-wimey stuff' was confusing until I looked into your timeline. Your timeline loops around before settling, but there was no way you could know that. Which leaves me to believe it means something else entirely." Rose tried not to smirk at that, really she did, so she hugged the Doctor and hid her face in his chest.

"'Shop-girl' is self-explanatory 'cause you were a girl that worked in a shop. 'No dad' means that your father died when you were young. 'Human' 'cause you're a tiny human being from Earth. 'Rose Tyler: Defender of Earth' is most-likely an inside joke with a close friend, probably from a time you were young and played a game where you had to defend the Earth from some evil aliens, which coupled with your dream of flying through the stars is most likely where the game came from.

"Last but not least is 'Bad Wolf' which has me stumped. I would say it was another nickname, but the slight tremor in your voice when you said it leads me to believe that whatever led you to having that name wasn't good. It frightened you, frightens you still. And yet you claim the name, which means that the name itself isn't what frightens you, but what led you to getting it." The Doctor theorized. Rose hummed trying to force back the memories of the Game Station and the knowledge that she would have to go through it once more.

"I lost someone dear to me that day." Rose muttered, she felt the Doctor tighten his grip on her.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her. Rose shoved the painful memories away, no need to dwell on the past, or well the future now. Rose smiled at him as she stepped away.

"Don't be. I still have my fantastic memories of my time with him. And it's not as if he has truly left me, all I have to do is call up my memories of him and he's once again with me." Rose told the Doctor receiving an awed look from him.

"Not many people see it that way." The Doctor whispered to her, and she knew he was part of the people who saw it differently than her.

"I used to not see it this way, at least not until years later." Rose told him. "Any way, I think that's enough for the domestics. Earlier, you asked me where I wanted to go."

"Right, so where do you wanna go? Past or Future?" The Doctor asked catching onto the fact that she didn't wish to speak on that subject anymore.

"Forwards." Rose said with a smirk watching as the Doctor began to power the TARDIS up.

"How far?" He asked matching her smirk.

"Is a hundred years too far?" Rose asked teasingly. The Doctor playfully glared at her before setting the TARDIS down a hundred years from her time.

"There you go! Step outside those doors, it's the 22nd century." The Doctor told her with a smirk. "But that's too boring for you Rose, don't you think. I'm sure you'd want to go further."

"Only if you can handle it." Rose said playfully as the Doctor began to pump in some coordinates

"Oh, Rose, you'll soon learn I can handle more than you think." He told her with a wink.

"Whatever you say, Doctor." Rose flirted back.

"Ten thousand years in the future." The Doctor told her when they landed, his eyes never leaving hers. "Step outside, it's the year 12005. The new Roman Empire." Rose knew she needed to get him to take her to the End of the Earth.

"You think you're so impressive." Rose teased with a smirk, knowing exactly which buttons to press.

"I am so impressive!" The Doctor cried out not expecting that reaction from her.

"Then show me something impressive." Rose challenged playfully.

"Right then. You asked for it. I know exactly where to go." The Doctor growled out before inputting the coordinates for the End of the Earth and Rose smirked. "Hold on!" The Doctor ordered as they flew through the rift, the TARDIS rumbling and shaking.

"Did you pass your test to drive her?" Rose asked playfully as she gripped the console to keep from falling over.

"Nope! Just took her and Ran." The Doctor told her.

"So do you just grab all your girls and run?" Rose asked.

"Just the special ones." He told her with a smirk and a wink causing her to laugh as they landed.

"Where are we?" Rose asked even though she knew, she knew that he loved this part and didn't want to deny him this. The Doctor just smirked at her and motioned for her to go and see. Rose smiled at him before taking off towards the door.

The second she stepped out into the viewing room, her smile slid off her face as the darker parts of this trip from the first time flew through her mind. The deaths, the fighting with the Doctor, nearly getting burned up, Cassandra. Rose was snapped back to reality when the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and over to the control panel by the door while pulling out his screwdriver.

Rose soaked up the beauty of the planet in front of her as the metal panel that had been covering the window lowered. In a few minutes the sun would expand and the Earth would be destroyed. The Doctor made his way over to her and took her hand.

"You lot... you spend all your time thinking about dying. How you're gonna get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. That maybe you survive." The Doctor told her softly as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "This is the year 5.5 slash Apple slash 26. Five billion years in your future. And this is the day... Hold on." He glanced at his watch and two seconds later the sun expanded. Rose could now admit that the expanding sun was beautiful.

"This is the day the sun expands." Rose finished softly in awe.

"Welcome to the end of the world." He whispered to her. The two of them stood in front of the window watching the Earth, well she was watching the Earth while he was watching her. She could feel his stare, and it actually made her happy. Him staring at her as softly as he was made this feel more as a date than the last time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five-**

"Shuttles five and six now docking." An Automated voice announced cutting into their comfortable silence and startling Rose. The Doctor sighed before taking her hand and leading her out of the room to meet the other guests. "Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth-death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."

"When it says 'guest', does it mean people or aliens?" Rose asked wrapping her free arm around his smiling up at him.

"Depends on what you mean by people." The Doctor laughed, squeezing her hand slightly.

"Well, are they earthlings or from further out." Rose clarified before a thought hit her. "Or would I be the alien since I'm from 21st century Earth?" The Doctor laughed at that as he pulled them to a stop and pulled her into a hug, resting his forehead on hers with a soft hum.

"They will be aliens to you." He told her softly as she began to sway them, loving the feeling of his arms around her. He was so much more open with her this time around, touching her more and telling her more. Rose smiled lovingly at him, she liked this side of her Doctor. "You will look like a human to them. Don't worry so much."

"So what are we doing here? This isn't a spaceship. It looks to me more like an observation desk. So what's this all for?" Rose asked.

"You and your questions." The Doctor teased her before placing a soft kiss on her lips. "The great and good are gathering to watch the planet burn." He told her as he continued to lead her down the corridor.

"What for? Fun?" Rose asked.

"Exactly. Let's go meet the other guests." The Doctor said reluctantly pulling his arm from her to use his screwdriver to open the doors to the observation room.

"When you say 'great and good' you really mean the rich, don't you?" Rose asked as they entered the massive observation room. It was just as beautiful as Rose remembered it, all marble and arches.

"That's right." The Doctor said, beaming down at her, she answered him with her own smile.

"You know." Rose said as they came to a stop at the far end of the room, looking out over the Earth. "I read once about this very thing. They said that the time it would take the sun to expand to this level would take thousands, if not millions of years to accomplish."

"That's true." He said before pointing towards the satellites orbiting the Earth. "You see those little things out there? Gravity satellites holding the sun back. The planet has been property of the National Trust for many years."

"So if they're letting this happen, does that mean that the money has run out?" Rose asked leaning her head against his shoulder. "How long's the Earth got?" Rose asked as the Doctor looked at his watch.

"About half an hour. Then the planet gets roasted." The Doctor informed her.

"I thought that the continents moved. So why does it look like that? Did the Trust move them back?"

"That's a classic Earth, right there." The Doctor told her excitedly.

"What happened to the people?" She asked hoping that the answer would still be the same.

"All gone." He smiled at her reassuringly. "No one's left. You lot have already left to the far reaches of space."

"Who the hell are you?" The steward asked coming into the room causing both of them to spin on the balls of their feet and look at the blue alien dressed in a dull gold suit and cap.

"Oh, that's nice. Thanks." The Doctor said sarcastically.

"But how did you get in?" The steward asked. "This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guest have disembarked! They're on their way any second..." The Doctor quickly pulled out his psychic-paper.

"No! That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation." The Doctor said showing the steward the psychic-paper. "Look, there you see? It's fine. You see? 'The Doctor, plus one.' I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler, she's my 'plus one'." The Doctor told the steward proudly. "Is that all right?"

"Well, obviously." The steward said awkwardly. "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." He added stiffly before walking away.

"The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time." The Doctor said handing Rose the paper. Rose stared at the blank paper in shock, the last time the Doctor had handed her the paper, it had looked like an invitation.

"But it's blank." Rose told him shocking him. The Doctor carefully took the paper back from her before holding it up to her.

"Are you telling me you can't see anything on this paper?" The Doctor asked and Rose shook her head.

"It's blank." Rose informed him.

"Rose Tyler, you are either really clever, psychic, or not human." The Doctor told her.

"Let's go with psychic." Rose joked causing the Doctor to chuckle.

"I was leaning more towards clever. If you were psychic, I would feel you up here." The Doctor said tapping his head with a smirk and Rose playfully stuck her tongue at him.

"What species?" Rose asked nodding her head toward the steward as he began to make announcements at his podium.

"Crespallion." The Doctor informed her.

"We have in attendance, the Doctor and Rose Tyler!" The steward announced and they waved at him. "Thank you. All staff to their positions." He said clapping before child sized blue aliens began to enter and leave the room. "Hurry now! Thank you! Quick as we can, come along, come along!" Once everyone was where they needed to be the steward continued.

"And now, might I introduce the next honored guest representing the Forest of Cheem, we have trees. Namely Jabe, Lute and Coffa." The main doors to the observation room opened and three human trees walked in. And now that Rose wasn't confused and slightly scared while trying to act as if she wasn't, she could easily see that Jabe was gorgeous.

 _Do not let her get his breath, My Wolf. It will save her from a painful death._ The TARDIS sung to her.

"There will be an exchange of gifts, representing peace." The Steward announced and Rose quickly dug through her bag. She smiled happily when she found the small sowing kit in there and pulled out the scissors.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked in confusion.

"Getting ready to exchange gifts." Rose informed him with a smile.

"Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon." The Steward announced as a small, chubby light blue alien rode into the room. The Doctor and Rose nodded to him. "And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme." A group of tall robots covered in black, head to toe robes walked in as one. Rose felt the Doctor look at her and looked over at him with a smile.

"The inventors of the hyposlip travel systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen! Thank you." The room quickly began to fill up with all the other guests. And even though she had already lived through this once, it still amazed her and slightly overwhelmed her.

"The gift of peace. I bring you a cutting of my grandfather." Jabe said holding out a small sapling. The Doctor took it with a small bow.

"Thank you. And we give you a cutting of myself." Rose said quickly snipping off a small piece of her hair and placing it in Jabe's open hand with a smile. Jabe gave her a smile, but Rose could see she was disappointed.

"You didn't have to give her your hair, I could have figured out something to give her." The Doctor told her grabbing the cut piece of hair that stood out from the longer pieces around it.

"What, like the air from your lungs?" Rose teased nudging him playfully while taking the sapling from him. "No, I'm sorry, that's too intimate for someone you just met."

"And what, a piece of your hair isn't?" The Doctor asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Nope. The air from your lungs is much more intimate. Especially for trees." Rose told him.

"The sponsor from the main event, please welcome The Face of Boe." Rose and the Doctor looked away from each other to watch The Face of Boe be wheeled in. Rose blinked, she could have sworn she just saw him wink at her.

"The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor greeted as the Moxx rode up to them.

"My felicitations up this historical happenstance. I bring you the gift of bodily salivas." He said before spitting at her, Rose quickly held up her hand and let the spit hit it before it could land on her face like last time.

"Thank you. And I bring you the gift of a High-five." Rose said handing the Doctor the sapling again before using her now empty, spit-free hand to lightly slap the Moxx on the arm. She kept her smile on her face until he rode away and wiped the spit of on the Doctor's maroon shirt. "What it's not like we don't still have his gift." Rose said when the Doctor gave her a look.

"Why my shirt?" The Doctor asked.

"Cause I didn't want it on mine." Rose said giving him the smile just for him.

"Ah! The adherents of the Repeated Meme!" The Doctor greeted when the group of robots got to them. "I bring you air from my lungs." The Doctor said before Rose could stop him and he breathed on them. They said nothing, only holding out the metal ball that Rose knew held the robot spiders that would wreck havoc to the station. Rose took the ball and watched them glide away as her mind raced to figure out how to save as many people as she could. She knew she wouldn't be able to save all of them, but one or two more alive at the end wouldn't been too bad.

"Representing the Torchwood Repository of Blaidd Drwg." The steward said catching both Rose and the Doctor's attention. Rose stared at him in confusion, this person hadn't been here the last time. "The Curator, Matt Smith. The Torchwood Repository was kind enough to donate the artifacts and artwork displayed in today's historic event." The doors opened to show a young man with dark brown hair swept neatly to the side wearing a light brown tweed jacket and a TARDIS blue bow tie. He smiled at the room excitedly as he bounded into the room like an excited puppy. Something about him drew her in, something familiar and safe.

Rose's attention was ripped away from the strangely familiar young man when the Doctor growled dark and low while releasing her hand only to wrap his arm around her and pull her flush against his side. Rose looked at him in concern and found him glaring at the Curator who seemed to be having a nice little chat with the Face of Boe. As if feeling them, the Curator turned his head to look at them, well at her. Something flashed through his eyes as the Doctor's arm around her tightened almost possessively. The Curator smirked before turning his attention back to the Face of Boe.

Rose and the Doctor continued to accept gifts from the brothers Hop Plyeen, Cal Spark Plug, Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo and the Ambassadors from the City of Binding Light. Rose relaxed against the Doctor as the guest circled, but his possessive arm around her never left. Rose greeted them with a smile, like an old pro who belonged in the circles of the great and rich. All too soon, however, the Curator was before them and the Doctor was once again growling dark and low.

Before either of them could react to stop him, the Curator had reached out and gently took one of Rose's hands in both of his. His wide, friendly smile turned loving as he lifted her small hand to his lips, placing a kiss on her knuckles. The Doctor growled and snatched Rose's hand from the Curator's while glaring at him. Rose knew that the Doctor was staking his claim over her and couldn't stop the smile forming on her lips. The Curator just smirked at the Doctor before turning his attention back to her.

"My Lady Tyler," The Curator beamed, "Always a pleasure to see you. You look absolutely radiant, but than, you've always looked radiant to me." Rose tried not to show her confusion at his statement as she tried to recall her memories of her first trip with the Doctor. Had they met this man at one point? He seemed to know her quite well.

"And you as well, my good sir." Rose told him politely, trying not to give away that she had no idea who his was. The Curator gave her a secret smile, his eyes dancing with laughter as if they had just shared an inside joke.

"Why thank you, Lady Tyler, it is always so good to hear you praise my look. Though I admit, I did dress up a little. I got a new bow tie and everything." The Curator told her proudly.

"It's lovely. The perfect shade of blue and everything." Rose told him and he preened.

"Your gift, sir?" The Doctor growled out darkly.

"Of course, my gift is the gift of a kiss." The Curator said and Rose's eyes widened in shock. This man was going to kiss her!? The Curator reached out and, shockingly to both her and the Doctor, took hold of the Doctor's face before pulling him down into a chase kiss. And then he left without a return gift. Rose and the Doctor stared after him in absolute shock. What. Just. Happened? The Doctor and Rose looked at each other. And Rose couldn't help it, really she couldn't. She laughed.

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth, below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last human." The Steward announced and Rose had to stop herself from tensing up. "The Lady Casandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

"Oh, now don't stare! I know, I know. It's shocking, isn't it?" Casandra said as she was rolled in and Rose felt and heard Bad Wolf growling in the back of her mind as memories of everything that Casandra put not only her but the Doctor through flew threw her mind. Rose glared at the piece of skin that was hung on a rack, and Rose nearly gasp when she felt something that wasn't the TARDIS brush up against her mind in a calming manner.

"I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty!" Casandra continued. "I don't look a day over 2,000. Moisturize me, moisturize me!" The two surgeon looking men with Casandra moved to spray the talking trampoline with water as she smiled coyly at the room. Rose wanted to walk over to her and slap her, but right now she had no reason to actually hate the woman, she had yet to actually do anything.

"Truly, I am the last human." Casandra lamented causing Rose to roll her eyes. "My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic desert. They were born on the Earth and they were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honor them and say good bye." Casandra's voice broke a little. Rose honestly tried to fight the snort that flew out of her mouth, but she couldn't. And she hadn't been the only one, as a louder snort covered hers. She, along with everyone else, turned to look at the Curator who was now rubbing his nose.

"Sorry, tried to stop it. But you know sneezes." The Curator said with a wide smirk before throwing a wink at Rose. But Casandra carried on as if the small interruption had never happened.

"Oh, no tears. I'm sorry." She said as one of the surgeons gently dabbed her under her eyes with a cloth while the doors opened again. "I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From the Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg." Casandra began to tell them about how the ostrich was a fire breathing giant. Rose was able to keep in her snort this time as she leaned up and teased the curve of one of the Doctor's fine ears.

"She calls her self the last human, and yet she doesn't even know her own history? A fifty foot, fire breathing ostrich? Are we sure she's human, she looks more like what would happen if a human reproduced with a trampoline." Rose joked before snapping her head around to look at the Curator, who was across the room, when snorted once more, but this time including a spit take as well.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just finally understood a joke told to me a while ago." The Curator assured the other guests while patting his chest. The Face of Boe, who was next to the Curator, gave a strange sound, almost as if he was laughing. Once again, Casandra ignored him.

The Doctor glared at the Curator as Casandra spoke of her second gift. A Juke box that she called an 'iPod'. Rose, the Doctor, and the Curator giggled at that.

"Play on!" Casandra ordered and 'Tainted Love' began to play. Rose smiled up at the Doctor when he began to dance to the music.

"Refreshments will now be served." The Steward announced. "Earth-death in 30 minutes."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six-**

Rose didn't know what happened, honestly. One second she was dancing and having the time of her life with the Doctor and the next him and her were yelling at each other in the private observation room they landed in. Rose huffed out angrily as she stood glaring out the window her back facing the angry and pacing Doctor. Her mind raced to figure out what had happened.

She remembered the Curator coming to ask for a dance with the Doctor, and dragging the man away from Rose before either of them could say anything. And then Jabe had taken the time it took for the Doctor to get away from the Curator to scan her with some strange device. And then, suddenly and shockingly, she had had what seemed to be a minor panic attack and had run from the room.

What Rose couldn't understand was the minor panic attack she had had. It was almost as if, for that split-second, her younger mind had taken over. Rose sighed and ran a hand down her face. She remembered suddenly feeling overwhelmed by everything, just as she had the first time. And, just as he had done the first time, the Doctor had run after her, though a lot quicker this time. And then they had gotten into a fight because she had refused to tell him what had happened to her. But how could she tell him something she didn't know! But she had to tell him something, had to make up a reason.

"They're just so alien!" Rose suddenly found herself saying. The sound of the Doctor stopping his pacing got her to look at him, he was giving her a confused look. "The aliens are so alien." He now had a slightly hurt look in his eyes. "I mean, I knew they would, but at the same time I didn't. And I thought I was okay, I really did or I would have told you. But then, I don't know." Rose told him with a sigh and hugged herself. They stood there for half a second like that before the Doctor reacted.

"Oh, Rose." He breathed out before striding over to her and pulled her into a hug. Rose relaxed and hugged him back, and smiled when she felt his tense muscles relax as well. "Good thing I didn't take you to the deep south." He joked causing her to laugh. "We can leave if you want. I can take you some where less Alien-y."

"We're already here though, might as well ride it out." Rose told him with a sigh, she wasn't going to run off and let all these innocent people die.

"I don't want you to have to force yourself to be fine around these people when they unnerve you." The Doctor said tightening his hold on her.

"They don't unnerve me." Rose tried to argue.

"You just had a panic attack Rose!" The Doctor shot back.

"Not because of them!" She responded without thought.

"Then by what? If it's not them that has unnerved you then what, or should I ask who?" The Doctor demanded, his arms dropping from her as if she had just burned him before taking a half step away from her. His blue eyes hard and cold as he glared at her. But Rose knew that his anger was just a mask to hide the hurt he was feeling.

"You don't unnerve me, Doctor! Never have! Never will!" She cried to him reaching for him, only to have him back away again.

"Then what, Rose, is unnerving you if not me or the guests." The Doctor growled out.

"Many things! I know we joked about the Earth revolving around you, Doctor, but not everything that is happening is because of you! I'm tired and I had a small panic attack as everything that has happened finally sank in. I left my mum and my best mate to travel with the most frustratingly annoying man in the universe. And you know what Doctor! I don't regret it!" Rose yelled at him, tears in her eyes by the end of her rant. She took a few deep breaths, she needed to calm not only herself down but also the Doctor.

"All right." She continued calmer now, cutting the Doctor off before he could say whatever he had been about to say, and Rose knew that whatever it had been would have most definitely continued the argument. "As my mate Shireen says, 'Don't argue with the designated driver.'" The Doctor rolled his eyes and fought off a small smile. "Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal." Rose joked pulling out her mobile from her back pocket to look at it. "We're out of range. Just a bit." That got the Doctor laughing.

"Tell you what," The Doctor said stepping back up to her and gently took the phone from her, "with a little bit of jiggery-pokery." He popped off the back of her mobile and pulled out the battery.

"Is that a technical term, 'jiggery-pokery'?" Rose teased with a laugh.

"Yeah, I came first in jiggery-pokery. What about you?" The Doctor joked as he put the battery in his pocket.

"Nah, I failed that class. Did come second in hullabaloo, though." Rose told him with a smirk as he placed a different battery in the mobile before putting the back on and handed the mobile back to her.

"There you go." The Doctor said smiling at her, Rose smiled back happy that they were alright again. She hated whenever her and the Doctor fought, but she wouldn't stand down if she thought the Doctor was wrong (not that that happened very often) or when she was tired of him trying to do everything himself and not rely on her. Rose focused her attention back to her phone, knowing she needed to call her mother.

"Hello?" Jackie asked answering the phone, and Rose couldn't help the smile that found its way onto her face. No matter how much she loved traveling with the Doctor, she would always miss her mother.

"Mum?" Rose asked causing the Doctor to give her a small chuckle, in retaliation, Rose stuck her tongue out at him. She couldn't help the swell in her chest when she noticed the Doctor's eyes dilating while staring at her mouth. She wondered what he was thinking about.

"Oh, what is it? What's wrong? What have I done now?" Jackie asked snapping Rose out of her thoughts. "Ooh, this red top's falling to bits! You should get your money back." Rose laughed at that. "Go on, there must be something. You never phone in the middle of the day." Rose continued laughing cutting into her mother's rambling. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just miss you. Did you get my letter?" Rose asked confusing the Doctor.

"Yeah, Mickey gave it to me. What'd you mean when you said you got a job helping a doctor? Doctor who? What's he do? How are you helping him? How'd you meet him?" Jackie asked.

"Just bumped into him. Helped him out in a tough spot. And I do whatever I can to help him." Rose informed her mother locking eyes with the Doctor.

"He's not making you do anything you don't want to, is he?" The Doctor tensed up as Jackie asked that.

"No, Mum, he'd never make me do anything that I'm not comfortable with. He's not Jimmy." Rose told her and heard her mother's sigh of relief.

"Are you sure you're alright, Rose? Because, I'd come get you." Jackie said and Rose chuckled at that. "I would Rose, I'd get Mickey to help me and we'd come get you."

"I know you would Mum, but trust me, the Doctor would never let any harm come to me." Rose told her smiling when the Doctor smiled at her before pulling her into a hug. Jackie was silent for a long minute.

"Alright, luv, I trust you. But that don't mean I trust this doctor man. I mean you still haven't told me his name! When you two get back from whatever it is you're doing, we're gonna have a sit down and talk. You hear me?" Jackie told her.

"I hear you, Mum." Rose said biting her lip, wondering if the Doctor was actually going to sit and talk with her mother this time around.

"Is there something wrong?" Jackie asked in concerns.

"No, everything's find. Top of the world!" Rose joked causing the Doctor to laugh and tighten his hold on her.

"He's there, isn't he?" Jackie asked.

"He is, but he's not making me say anything I don't want to." Rose told her and shook her head at the Doctor's questioning look. "Look Mum, I gotta go. I'll call you whenever I can find the time. I promise." Rose said before hanging up with a heavy sigh.

"If you think that's amazing, you wanna see the bill." The Doctor joked tightly, obviously trying to keep from demanded her to explain that conversation.

"That was five billion years ago." Rose told him, knowing it would be too suspicious if she didn't comment on it. "She offered to come pick me up, but, she's dead now."

"Bundle of laughs, you are." The Doctor told her sarcastically.

"Right, you have questions." Rose said and the Doctor opened his mouth to ask them when the station rumbled and shook harshly. Rose's eyes flew over to where the metal ball had been tossed during their argument, and silently cursed when she found it open. She had completely forgotten about it!

"That's not supposed to happen." The Doctor told her giving her a look that she knew meant that his mind was racing to try and figure everything out. Rose took his hand getting ready to run.

"Honored guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence. Thanking you." The Stewards announced over the PA as the Doctor and her took off to the Main Observation gallery to the litany of voices, all talking at once. Panicked and hushed, but added together to become a dull roar. Groups had moved and were intermingled now, except for the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.

"Indubitably this is the Bad Wolf scenario." The Moxx of Balhoon muttered to the Face of Boe and the Curator, who had locked eyes with her the second she had entered the room.

"She did warn me this might happen." The Curator said with a troubled sigh looking away from Rose to look at the Face of Boe who was nodding.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets, and they don't feel like that." The Doctor said pulling out his screwdriver before beginning to scan the interface next to the door. Rose caught Jabe walking over to them, the look in her eyes made Rose shutter. She couldn't tell if it was a good look or a bad look. Feeling her shutter, the Doctor looked around and saw the look Jabe was giving her. "What do you think, Jabe?" The Doctor growled out causing the tree to look at him. "Listen to the engines they're pitched up about 30 Hertz. That dodgy or what?"

"It's the sound of metal, that doesn't make any sense to me." Jabe told him her eyes making their way back to Rose.

"Where's the engine room?" The Doctor demanded causing Jabe's eyes to fly back to him. It was then that Rose realized what the Doctor was doing, he was keeping Jabe's attention on him and away from her. He had sensed her discomfort at the look Jabe had given her and was trying to protect her from it. Rose felt her heart swell with love for the man next to her.

"I don't know." Jabe said. "But the maintenance duct is just behind our guests' suite, I could show you." She finished her eyes drifting back to Rose, making her feel as if the invite was for her alone and not for the Doctor, but at the Doctor's growl Jabe's eyes flew away from her and back to the Doctor. "And your wife."

"Oh, I'm not his wife." Rose found herself saying before she could stop herself, a habit carried over from the last time. The Doctor's eyes flew over to hers, hurt in his eyes. And Rose realized that this was going to be a habit she would be happy to break.

"Partner?" Jabe asked eyes raking her up and down.

"Look, whatever I am, it must be invisible! Do you mind?" Rose snapped. She didn't know this tree well enough to be comfortable being looked at like that. That calming presence was in her mind once more and for a reason she didn't know, her eyes locked with the Curator's. "Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. I'll stay here." Rose growled out. The Doctor's face hardened at that, his eyes flying between Rose and Jabe as if trying to decide if he wanted to leave her here alone or take her with him and Jabe.

"Sounds like a plan." The Doctor said tightly, his mind made up and obviously he didn't like it.

"I'm just going to catch up with the Family. Quick word with Micheal Jackson." Rose joked nodded over to Casandra, glancing at the Curator when he snorted out a laugh again.

"Don't start a fight." The Doctor told her as she began to make her way to the Curator who was now standing in between her and the flap of skin. "Seems I'm all yours." He told Jabe.

"And I want you home by midnight." Rose called out to the Doctor, Jabe and the Curator snickering at that.

"Your mate is possessive." The Curator said shocking Rose as she spun around to look at him. "Surprised he even let you out of his sight with me around." He added before pulling her into an embrace that turned into a dance as Glenn Miller's 'Moonlight Serenade' began to play from the 'iPod'.

"Oh, you don't seem all that dangerous." Rose found herself saying in a slightly teasing flirt, there was something about him that made it almost natural for her to flirt with him, something almost Doctor-y. She looked at the Curator in surprise when he gave her a growl that reminded her of the Doctor's growl as he dipped her and kissed her throat .

"I'll have you know, Rose Tyler, I am more dangerous that you know. Most dangerous man in the universe, I am." The Curator said, his lips against her throat. He gave her throat a soft nip before he pulled her up from the dip. "I've been known to topple empires, save multiple worlds from war, and even send armies of millions running in terror with just a look." Rose blinked at him in surprise, a slight fear of the man rising in her. "Oh, but you have nothing to fear, my dear, I only do what I must to protect the innocent, my wife wouldn't be happy if I went off for no reason."

"You're wife?" Rose asked in confusion looking around to room to see if she could find this mysterious wife of his. "Is she here?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear wife had to stay at home with our twins. I told her I was popping out to grab some more nappies." The Curator told her with a smirk, his eyes twinkling in hidden laughter.

"You seem to have missed a turn, my dear sir, the nappies are to the left of the solar system, not right." Rose told him with a laugh and a small shake of her head.

"My wife always said I was bad with directions, I mean, if it weren't for her I'd never get to where I'm needed to be." The Curator joked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure if you're quick enough, once you leave here and pick up those nappies, you're wife will never know you made a wrong turn. It'll be our little secret." Rose whispered to him causing him to laugh.

"Oh, I'm sure my wife already knows I'm here, in fact I'm quite positive she knew I would be here even before I, myself, knew." The Curator told her with a wink as the song came to an end. "Have you met my dear friend the Face of Boe? I owe him not only my life but also my marriage, without him I don't think I'd have pulled my head out of my arse long enough to propose to the love of my lives." He told her with a loving sigh as he led her over to the Face of Boe.

 _Hello_. Rose instinctively called out to the Face of Boe with her mind while smiling at him.

"I do believe you'll be in good company, but I must sadly leave you for now, my dear. Things to see, people to do, as I'm sure you know." The Curator told her with a smirk and a wink before taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips before leaving her with the laughing Face of Boe.

 _I see it is finally my turn to bask in your light, My Lady._ The Face of Boe told her, once he had calmed from his laughing, with a wink causing Rose to laugh at his blatant flirting, instantly reminding her of Jack. _I would ask you to dance with me, but I fear our song has already played._ Rose looked at him in confusion, they had a song? _But then I would need arms to hold you again, wouldn't I, Rosie?_ Rose's eyes widened at that, there was only one person who called her that.

"Jack?" Rose whispered in shock.

 _Hello, Rosie, it is so good to see you. I've missed you._ Jack told her as she gasped at him. Her eyes taking in everything about him.

 _What happened? How did you... when did..._ Bad Wolf shifted in the back of her mind pulling up the memory of her reviving him. _Did I do this?_

 _Rosie, please calm down. I've been like this a long, long time now._ Jack confirmed. _Yes, this is a result of that. But not like you think. From what I know, what I remember you telling me, what will be will happen as it is meant to. Don't worry. I've come to terms with this eons ago, my beautiful Rosie._

"Earth-death in ten minutes." The computerized female voice announced. Rose and Jack ignored it and continued to enjoy each other's presence for the next five or so minutes until Cassandra called out over the dull roar that filled the room interrupting them. Rose rolled her eyes and turned to look at Cassandra, wondering what the trampoline had to say now.

"The Planet's end." Cassandra called. "Come gather, come gather. Let us bid farewell to the cradle of civilization." Rose could have sworn she heard the Curator snort once more but couldn't find him in the crowd when she looked for him. "Let us mourn her passing with a traditional ballad." Rose shook her head wondering how 'Toxic' by the now long dead Brittany Spears was a traditional ballad for anything and mentally asked Jack that.

It's because it's not, Rosie. Jack told her and Rose nodded. _If she were truly human then she would know that the traditional ballad for anything is 'Barbie Girl'._ Rose nearly bit her tongue trying not to bust out laughing as she remembered the time when she tricked Jack into believing that 'Barbie Girl' was the national anthem for humans. He spent hours dancing around the TARDIS singing that song so proudly until the Doctor spilled the beans after getting annoyed by the song.

She shook her head at Jack as he began to sing 'Barbie Girl' in his head as she looked around. This was all new to her. By this point last time she had been locked in a sun scorched room and had no idea what had been happening. The doors to the main observation room opened as the Doctor and Jabe walked in.

 _Your Doctor has returned, Rosie._ Jack told her, cutting into his song. _Go to him, I'll be fine. I have the Curator here with me after all._

 _Who is the Curator, Jack? He knew me, how does he know me? I've never met him._ Rose said and Jack shook his head.

 _That's the Curator's secret to tell, Rosie._ Jack told her causing her to sigh before she turned and made her way to the Doctor, he met her half-way and took her hand in his before leading her and Jabe to the center of the room. Once at the center of the room, Jabe got everyone's attention and showed them the metal spider in her hand.

"The metal machine confirms, the spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One." Jabe announced causing a shocked gasp to travel around the room.

"How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code-wall." Cassandra gasped out and Rose couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, she hoped the truth about Cassandra would come out soon, she really wanted to lay into the flap of skin. "Moisturize me, moisturize me."

"Summon the steward!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried.

"He's dead." The Curator informed him receiving a suspicious glare from the Doctor as he took the spider from Jabe.

"Who killed him?" The Moxx of Balhoon asked.

"This whole event was sponsored but the Face of Boe! He invited us." Cassandra falsely accused.

"The Face of Boe would never endanger anyone like this!" Rose defended glaring at her, dropping the Doctor's hand and began to make her way towards the woman ready to throw down with her. She would not stand for this flap of skin to deface her friend like that. But she was stopped by the Curator grabbing her arm.

"Easy way of finding out." The Doctor growled out. "Someone brought their little pet on board." He said holding the spider up for everyone to see before setting it on the ground. "Let's send him back to master." The Spider slowly made its way around the room, stopping at Cassandra to scan her before going to Rose and stopped in front of her, one of its legs pawing at her like a dog would its master.

"Stop lying." The Curator growled at it. The spider beeped at him angrily before making its way behind Rose to the robed robots that Rose just noticed was way too close to her for her liking. How had she not noticed them coming up behind her? How had the Doctor not noticed? Or even the Curator?

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme! J'accuse!" Cassandra cried out.

"That's all very well and really kinda obvious." The Doctor growled as he made his way to the robots, glaring that the Curator as he did so. The suspicious look in the Doctor's eyes alerted Rose that he believed that it was the Curator who was doing this. "But if you stop and think about it..." Before the Doctor could even get to the robots, the one closest to her swung. Rose cried out in pain as she was hit, knocking her to the ground, before the Doctor or Curator could react. "Rose!" The Doctor yelled as the Curator caught the robot's arm as it swung to hit her once more and ripped the arm off.

"A Repeated Meme is just an idea." The Curator growled as the Doctor fell to his knees beside Rose and gently touched her head causing Rose to hiss in pain. Why was she supposed to get hit by these robots every time? At least this time she hadn't been knocked out and dragged into a room to be fried to death. "And that's all they are, an idea." The Curator continued as he powered the robots down.

"Remote-control droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker." The Doctor said as he helped her stand up. "Go on, Jumbo. Go home." The Doctor ordered the spider while the Curator gently nudged the spider. The spider looked at the Curator and Rose felt the Doctor's grip on her tighten before the spider turned and made its way back to Cassandra, shocking not only the other guest but the Doctor as well. Rose shook her head at that, apparently the Doctor had been so sure that it was the Curator.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed." Cassandra hissed out. "At arms!"

"What you gonna do, moisturize me?" The Doctor asked tauntingly but still placed himself between her and Cassandra.

"With acid." Cassandra told him causing Rose to gasp. "Oh, you're too late anyway. My spiders have control of the main frame. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax-free, past every code-wall. I'm not just a pretty face."

"You're not even a face." Rose snapped out causing the Curator to laugh.

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it, how stupid is that?" The Doctor growled out glaring at her.

"I'd hope to manufacture a hostage situation. With myself as one of the victims. The compensation would've been enormous." Cassandra said and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Five billion years, and it still comes down to money." Rose said shaking her head.

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this?" Cassandra asked her. "Flatness costs a fortune, you abomination!" Rose blinked in shock when both the Doctor and the Curator loudly, and darkly, growled at Cassandra.

"Arrest her! The infidel!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried.

"Oh, shut it, pixie! I've still got my final option." Cassandra announce.

"Earth-death in three minutes." The Automated voice alerted.

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies. And they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn baby, burn.'" Cassandra monologued.

 _Why do they always monologue?_ Rose asked Jack.

 _To give us away to stop them._ The Curator replied back, shocking Rose having not expected his voice in her head.

"Then you'll burn with us!" Jabe told her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Cassandra told her feigning apologetic. "I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but...I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate!" And with that Platform One shook and sparked. "Force-fields gone, with the planet about to explode... At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband..." Cassandra said with a laugh. "Oh, shame on me! Bye-bye, darlings." And with that she and he henchmen teleported away.

"Safety systems failing. Heat levels rising." The Automated voice announced sending the room into a panic.

"Reset the computer!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried.

"Only the steward would know how." Jabe told him.

"No, we can do it by hand." Both the Doctor and the Curator announced at the same time.

"Rose, stay here and help the Face of Boe." The Curator ordered and Rose opened her mouth to argue. "You'll be safer here and that will allow me and your Doctor to be able to focus on saving everyone." The desperate look he gave her had her arguments dying on her lips.

"Who are you?" Rose asked.

"We don't have time for me to answer that question now, Rose. But I promise I will answer your question once we save everyone." The Curator told her softly before spinning around and raced to the door. "Doctor, with me! You lot, listen to Rose!" He ordered and the Doctor shot her a look before leaving her to race after the Curator.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven-**

"Earth-death in two minutes. Earth-death in two minutes. Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical." The Automated voice alerted as Rose, with the help of Jabe, moved everyone as far away from the window as they could, crowding into the corridor. Rose knew that this wouldn't stop the heat from taking people's lives, but she hoped it would help save more people from that terrible fate.

 _They will be alright, Rosie._ Jack told her when he caught her worrying her bottom lip while looking down the corridor that the Doctor and Curator had run down.

 _I know._ Rose told him wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising." The Automated voice announced. And though Rose knew from experience that the Doctor would save them in time, she couldn't stop her tears.

"Your mate will save us." Jabe told her calmly as she wrapped a calming arm around her.

"I know. I just wish this didn't have to happen." Rose told her.

"I think we all wish that." Jabe told her.

"External temperature 5,000 degrees." The Automated voice alerted and Rose growled inwardly wishing that damn thing would shut up! "Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."

 _We know already!_ Rose growled in her mind.

 _It's just doing it's job, Rosie._ Jack told her calmly and she sighed.

"Heat levels hazardous." The Automated voice announced.

"We're going to die!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried and Rose wanted to reassure all of them that no they were not, but the Bad Wolf was keeping her from telling them that, because not all of them here were going to make it.

"Heat levels hazardous." The Automated voice said and Rose felt helpless. She wanted to help but she couldn't do anything! She was stuck here watching as the heat began to take people. Rose dislodged herself from Jabe and ran around a corner to curl up and cry. She couldn't do this! She couldn't watch these people die! "Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction." She could hear the glass in every room start to crack in the heat and she curled in on herself even more as the heat began to rise even more. What was taking the Doctor and the Curator so long! At this rate everyone was going to die!

"Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical." The screaming began and Rose covered her ears and cried as Bad Wolf confirmed her fears. There was nothing she could do. "Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising. Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." Rose squeezed her eyes shut as the count down began. "Shields raised." The Automated voiced announced and Rose let out a sigh of relief, they had done it.

"Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair." The Automated voice alerted.

 _Jack, are you alive? Please tell me you're still alive._ Rose cried out.

 _You can't get rid of me that easily, Rosie._ Jack whispered back to her, his voice strained and guilt hit her hard.

 _I'm sorry I ran, I just couldn't..._

 _You have nothing to apologize for, Rosie, hell if I could have, I would have run with you._ Jack told her as she stood up and walked around the corner to see the damage. The Moxx of Balhoon was dead, along with a good portion of the workers as their friends and family mourned over the piles of ashes and bodies. Thankfully Jabe, Lute, and Coffa were still alive. Rose looked towards Jack to see that most of the liquid in his jar had evaporated. Foot steps caught Rose's attention and she spun around in time to see both the Doctor and the Curator storming down the hall angrily. Rose's breath caught in her throat as she caught sight of the Curator's bandaged hands.

 _I'm fine Rose, I heal quickly._ The Curator sent her mentally. But he needs you. He added and Rose didn't need to know who he was talking about as she rushed to the Doctor and quickly took his hand. He led her and the rest of the living back into the main observation hall.

"You all right?" Rose asked him quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The Doctor told her, his tone letting her know that no, he was not all right. Rose bit the inside of her cheek to keep from arguing with him, there was still something left to do. "I'm full of ideas. I'm bristling with 'em! Idea number one, teleportation through 5,000 degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two. This feed must be hidden nearby." He said leading her over to the ostrich egg, taking it one handedly and cracked it open taking the device that was inside it.

"Idea number three." He continued leading her to the center of the room. "If you're as clever as me, then a teleportation-feed can be reversed." He said as he reversed the feed and brought Cassandra back, alone.

"Oh, you should've seen their little alien faces..." Cassandra bragged as she appeared back on Platform One, alone. "Oh." She cried out in shock.

"The last human." The Doctor growled.

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo!" Cassandra said. "This makes you eligible to join the... the Human Club."

"People have died Cassandra, you murdered them." The Curator growled at her.

"It depends on your definition of people!" Cassandra snarled at him. "And that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries! Take me to court then, Curator, and watch me smile and cry and flutter."

"And creak?" The Doctor asked pulling Cassandra's attention away from the Curator towards him.

"And what?" Cassandra asked in confusion.

"Creak! You're creaking." The Doctor told her with a smirk.

"What? I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me, moisturize me!" Cassandra moaned in pain and Rose's heart hurt for her. Enough people had suffered and died today. "Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature." The Doctor told her darkly.

"Have pity! Moisturize me!" Cassandra begged.

"Help her." Rose begged the Doctor receiving a confused yet slightly proud stare from the Doctor while the Curator sent her a proud smile as if she had passed a test he had hoped she would.

"Everything has its time and everything dies." The Doctor told her turning to glare back at Cassandra and Rose had to stop herself from telling him that Cassandra wouldn't die here.

"I'm too young!" Cassandra screamed just before her flap of skin exploded. The Doctor tightened his grip on her hand before turning to lead her out of the room, only to be stopped by the Curator.

"I believe you promised that I could talk with Rose after you had dealt with Cassandra." The Curator said and ignored the Doctor's growl. "She asked me a question earlier that I intend to answer."

"You can answer her here and now, with me present." The Doctor told him and the Curator shook his head.

"No, this is a question that needs answering in private, away from you." The Curator told him softly.

"Then she doesn't need it answered!" The Doctor growled as the guests began to leave one by one.

"I believe that decision is Rose's to make." The Curator said and soon both of them were looking at her. Rose fought the urge to stay with the Doctor knowing that this was a question that needed to be answered. It was the reason he was here this time around.

"It'll only take a minute, Doctor." Rose told him and had to fight the guilt that threatened to consume her at the hurt and betrayed look he was giving her before he ripped his hand from hers and stormed out of the room with the Face of Boe being wheeled out behind him as the last guest.

"He'll be back. He will always come back for you. Once he cools off he'll be back." The Curator told her holding out his hand for her to take, and she couldn't find the strength to take it. Sensing this, the Curator dropped his hand and gave her an understanding smile before silently mentioning her to walk with him. "Earlier you asked me a question, you asked who I was."

"And you promised to answer me after everything was done." Rose said as they slowly walked over to the window.

"And I intend to keep that promise." The Curator told her.

"Who are you?" Rose asked.

"I am the Doctor." He told her, shocking. "Well, I am a future version of the Doctor. I am also a promise, a glimpse at a future that you could have. We could have this, if you want." He told her as they locked eyes.

"And what do I have to do to get this future?" Rose asked in barely a whisper.

"Don't let pinstripe me catch you." He told her. "He's going to figure out what you are doing once his memories start to change, he won't realize it right off the bat. But when he does he'll begin to hunt for what is changing his past, and his hunt will lead to you. And he'll do everything in his power to stop you and set everything to the way he believes is right. And if he catches you, if he gets his hands on you, he will succeed. And it will kill him, literally." Rose gasped at that. "But, if you can be strong and faster than him, you will save not only me but also the universe. I know you can do this Rose."

"How do you know this?" Rose asked him.

"Because I would not be here talking to you." He told her before kissing her on her cheek. "I know this is a lot to ask of you, but if me and the TARDIS did not believe you could do this we would not have asked you to do this, my Pink and Yellow Rosebud." And with that, he turned and left her alone in the observation room. Rose turned and looked out the window, mind already made up. She would do this, she would save her Doctor and the universe.

Minutes later the Doctor found her staring at the ball of molten rock that used to be the Earth. Rose turned to look at him with a loving smile as he made his way to her, happy to note that he was calmer now. When he was close enough, Rose held out her hand to him and was pleased when he took it as he settled next to her. Where he belonged. Next to her with her hand in his.

"The end of the Earth." Rose told him before he could ask her what the Curator said to her. "It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go." It was silent between them as the Doctor turned his head to watch her instead of the planet in front of them. "All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking! It's just..."

"Come with me." The Doctor said softly before he gently led her back to the TARDIS. Without a word the Doctor quickly set in some coordinates before flipping the dematerialization. The trip was a lot less rocky and they landed with a soft bump instead of the normal bounce that she had grown so used to. And, without the TARDIS having to tell her anything, Rose knew that this was the TARDIS's way of apologizing for everything that Rose was going to have to face in order to keep herself with the Doctor.

Once landed, the Doctor gently took her hand and led her out of the TARDIS and into the busy street of central London. Rose knew the Doctor was trying to make up for everything that had happened, to apologize for forcing her through that. But the Doctor had nothing to apologize for.

"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete." The Doctor started as she took everything in. All the sights, all the sounds, all the smells. This was Earth, this was London, this was where she was born and raised, but this was not her home. It hadn't been home since she ran into the TARDIS that first time around. Yes, she still loved this place. Yes, she would defend this place. But her home and heart belonged to the Doctor and his TARDIS. "But it won't. One day, it's all gone. Even the sky." Rose knew that he was thinking of his home, of what he had to do.

It was only then that it dawned on her why the Doctor had taken her to the end of the Earth, he was trying to get her to understand him on a level no one else could. To understand how it feels to loose one's home. But, unlike with her, he would never be able to pop back in time for a quick visit because Gallyfrey no longer existed in any time.

"My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned, like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before its time." The Doctor told her releasing her hand to pull her into a hug.

"The war took it, didn't it, Doctor?" Rose asked knowing the answer.

"I'm all alone, Rose, they're all gone. I've got no one, it's why I travel on my own now." The Doctor told her, his broken tone causing her heart to hurt for him.

"There's me." Rose told him.

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you wanna go home?" The Doctor asked and knew he was asking about the flat that she shared with her mother because he didn't know, couldn't know, that her home was with him in the TARDIS hand in hand. Rose shook her head, answering him.

"I want..." Rose started but stopped herself from continuing, she couldn't tell him that she wanted to be with him, wanted to save him, wanted him to love her the way she loved him, wanted forever with him. The delicious smell of chips filled her nose. "Can you smell chips?" Rose asked causing the Doctor to laugh.

"Yeah! Yeah." The Doctor told her.

"I want chips." Rose told him.

"Me too!" The Doctor said as he continued to laugh.

"Right then, before you get me back in the TARDIS, chips it is and you can pay." Rose told him with a smile.

"No money." The Doctor informed her and Rose laughed remembering that it was only after this that the Doctor started carrying around money with him.

"What sort of date are you?" Rose joked with a light laugh. "Come on then, tightwad. Chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close." That caused the Doctor to laugh before pulling her into a kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

**For those of you that wish to get sneak peeks of future chapters or have questions that you want answered please feel free to join the Discord server 'Replay'. If you cannot find the server please contact me (MyariRose #1920) on Discord and let me know you wish to join the server and I will send you an invite. I hope to see you all there.**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight-**

The Doctor slipped quietly into the room that the TARDIS had given Rose, glad to see she was sleeping soundly. The Doctor sighed and sat on the edge of her bed and couldn't stop the smile that found its way to his lips when she rolled over so that she was closer to him. His eyes took her in. She was gorgeous, just as she had been in the basement of that shop.

The second the Doctor had seen her huddled up against the wall in fear, he had been drawn to her. He hadn't known what was drawing her to him and at the time he hadn't questioned it. He had just thought that he had been drawn to her to save her. But the second he had touched her hand, he knew that had been wrong. But even then he hadn't had time to question why he was drawn to her, nor had he been able to question why her fear had instantly melted away to joy and excitement the second his hand had slid into hers.

The Doctor shifted so that he was laying beside her. His hearts jumped when she moved so that she was cuddling to him. This was wrong. He knew that. She was human and he was a Time Lord. If his planet were still around and the elders knew of this, then she would be taken from him and he would be thrown into the matrix. The Doctor wrapped his arm around Rose at that thought.

He wouldn't let anything take her from him. She was _his_. The universe had led him to her. Had _wanted_ him to find her. She was meant for him. He knew that. Could sense it. Her soul cried out for his, just as his cried out for hers. As if sensing his thoughts, Rose sighed happily and snuggled closer while shifting so that her head now laid on his chest. The Doctor held his breath, waiting for his double heart beat to wake her. But she merely sighed again and fell into a deeper sleep.

The Doctor allowed his hand to run through her soft hair. He had heard tales from the older Time Lords, those on their last life. But, like all the other younger Time Lords, he had merely brushed them aside, calling them fairy tales. But, as he held Rose to him, he was ready to admit that maybe those tales were true. Maybe soulmates truly did exist. And maybe, just maybe, Rose was his.

Everything fit with all the tales he had heard. The emptiness deep in the soul that nothing could fill suddenly being gone with just one touch. The deep ache in not just body but mind and soul being sooth just from hearing them. The urge to provide and protect. The absolute _need_ to have them with you at all times.

In some deep, dark depth of his mind, a voice called out. It told him to be frightened of this. That this _thing_ between him and Rose would destroy him if he let her get too close. It demanded he hold her at arms length. Hissed at him to remember that she was a _human_. That her life was just a small blip on the radar that was a Time Lords life.

However, before the Doctor could even think about listening to that evil voice. Another voice sang to him. This one so light and beautiful and powerful that if he didn't know any better he would mistake it for the TARDIS. But, he knew the TARDIS's voice and this was not the TARDIS. It was almost like a perfect blend of the TARDIS's voice and Rose's voice.

And this voice sang to him of hope. Asking him to give these blossoming feelings a chance. Begged him to hold Rose close to his hearts. Whispered for him to love Rose for however long the universe gave the two of them.

And that voice was so tempting, so _alluring_ , that the Doctor wanted to listen to it. He _wanted_ the life with Rose that it allowed him to glimpse so much that he helped the angelic voice shove that dark, nasty, and hateful voice back into the pit it had crawled from.

The Doctor carefully removed Rose from his chest so that he could sit up and remove his boots and jacket. He tossed his jacket onto the chair across from the bed before pulling back the sheets and slipped into the bed beside his Rose. He sent a silent prayer to his beloved ship that if Rose awoke before him that she wouldn't yell or slap him. Prayed that he hadn't been misreading the signs. Prayed that she was starting to feel the same things he was.

And with that last thought, and with Rose tucked safely into his arms, the Doctor allowed himself to finally rest after nearly a month of forcing himself to stay awake so he would not dream of the war.

Almost five hours later, the Doctor's mind slowly woke itself up. The first thing it noted was the lovely smell of lavender and something all together _Rose_. The second thing it noted was the calming sound of someone humming, of _Rose_ humming. The third thing it noted was the soft touch of someone running their hand through his short hair, of _Rose_ running her hand through his short hair. "Rose." The Doctor breathed out nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck.

"Good morning, Doctor." Rose told him before placing a kiss to his temple, sending a delicious cocktail of love, want, need, and lust through his body causing it to hum.

"Time is irrelevant in the TARDIS. There is no day or night." The Doctor muttered as he tightened his arms around her and held her closer to him causing Rose to chuckle at either what he said or his reaction. For a split-second that nasty voice managed to crawl out of its pit to growl at him that she was laughing at him, that she couldn't possibly want him the way he was starting to want her. But then that angelic voice swept the other voice back into its pit as it reminded him of all the kisses they shared.

"I could get used to waking up like this." Rose told him placing another kiss to his temple. The Doctor moaned as that cocktail swept through him again, his hips automatically thrusting forward.

"Me too." The Doctor told her blushing in embarrassment as the very same thoughts that flew through his mind when he had her pinned under him in her flat resurfaced again. But this time, he didn't shove them away, this time he allowed them to stay. He felt a part of him that he had never had use of other than to empty his bladder began to twitch and come to life in a way he had never felt before. Of course he knew it was possible, human males did it all the time when they were aroused by their mate. And, since humans evolved to look like Time Lords, it was only logical to hypothesize that male Time Lords would do the same when aroused by their mate.

The Doctor knew the second Rose felt his arousal against her as she sucked in a breath. He watched her with wary eyes wondering if this would be too much. But when she smiled at him with that lovely blush across her cheeks he knew he hadn't crossed the line yet. He wanted to flip her over and worship her. To show her how much she belonged to him just like he belonged to her. But a voice, neither the hateful one nor the angelic one, told him that it would be too soon to do that. It told him to wait. Promised him that he would know the right time to worship her the way he wanted to.

"Right, Rose Tyler, I've taken you to the future. How's about I take you to the past." The Doctor said forcing himself to sit up, not trusting himself enough to not roll them over and start worshiping her then and there. Rose followed him up smiling that delicious smile that she seemed to only do for him. The one where her tongue poked between her teeth. One of these days he would allow himself to chase that tongue back into her mouth before claiming that mouth as his.

"Sounds like a perfect plan." Rose told him.

"Right, to do that we'll need to get up." The Doctor told her.

"Not so perfect anymore." Rose teased causing the Doctor to laugh. His Rose was so cheeky and seemed to know just what to say.

"Come on, Rose Tyler. We can't spend all day in bed, you lot already sleep half your lives away as it is." The Doctor told her slipping out of bed and into his boots. He bent over to tie them up and felt her staring. He couldn't stop his smirk at that, happy that his Rose found him so appealing.

After finishing tying his boots up he turned and held out his hand for her, which she quickly took. He helped her off the bed before pulling her into his arms and took hold of her lips with his. He allowed this kiss to last longer than the others and received a beautiful moan in return. It took all of his might to pull away from the kiss and gave a smug smirk at how breathless he had made his Rose.

"Right, you get cleaned up and meet me back in the console room." He told her giving her one last peck before releasing her and left the room, heading to the console room, shifting himself as he did so.

Twenty minutes later found both him and Rose fighting through the rough flight as they tried to stabilize the TARDIS. "Hold that one down!" The Doctor ordered as the TARDIS rocked and tumbled through the vortex.

"I'm holding _this_ one down!" Rose told him as she stumbled and fought to keep her balance while holding down the switch he had told her to hold down earlier. It wasn't an easy task but his Pink and Yellow girl was doing the best she could, and that was all he could ask of her.

"Well, hold them _both_ down!" The Doctor told her and could have sworn Rose had just growled at him as she glared at the just slightly out of reach button. He nearly bit his tongue off when she threw her leg up onto the panel and used it to hold the white lever down. How flexible was she? His mind asked as she used her new position to be able to stretch just enough to slam her hand down on the button he had asked her to hold down.

"Thank god for gymnastics." He heard Rose mutter as she rocked dangerously as the TARDIS shifted in the vortex. And the Doctor had to mentally shake himself away from all the thoughts that bombarded his mind at how much he wanted to test just how _flexible_ she could be.

"I promised you a time machine, Rose, and that's what you're getting. 1860. How does 1860 sound?" The Doctor asked in hopes to distract himself from the way Rose had draped herself over his console. Maybe, later, if he was _really_ good she would let him drape her over the console in another way?

"What happened in 1860?" Rose asked pulling him away from that thought.

"I don't know, let's find out! Hold on, here we go!" The Doctor said before quickly rushing over to pull the dematerialization lever sending them hurtling faster through the vortex. When the TARDIS landed with a loud and heavy thumb, both him and Rose were thrown to the ground on their backs. The Doctor couldn't help laughing with his Rose even as his console let out a steam, as if his TARDIS was letting out a heavy breath.

"Blimey!" Rose laughed out as he got to his feet and held out his hand to help her up.

"Telling me! You all right?" He asked as he let his eyes roam over her for any sort of injury.

"Yeah, I think so. Nothing broken." Rose told him smiling at him, reassured that she was unharmed, the Doctor turned to the screen on the console to check if they had made it. "Did we make it? Where are we?"

"I did it! Give the man a medal." The Doctor told her.

"How 'bout a kiss?" Rose asked before pulling him into a kiss.

"Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860." The Doctor told her once they had pulled away from the kiss.

"That's so weird. It's Christmas." Rose said excitedly.

"All yours." The Doctor told her holding his arm out towards the doors.

"Bit it's like... Think about it, though. Christmas, 1860, happens once, just once, and then it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again." Rose told him as she looped her arms around his neck smiling lovingly at him causing his hearts to speed up. "Except for you. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone. A hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder you never stay still."

"Not a bad life." The Doctor whispered to her wondering if she would want to live it with him, _praying_ she would want to live it with him. But if she wanted something quieter, slower, he would force himself to give it to her because she was quickly becoming his everything and he would do _anything_ to keep her with him.

"Better with two." Rose told him and he smiled. She wanted this life with him! Something inside him shifted as the air around them changed slightly. She had agreed to stay with him. Had accepted him as hers. Accepted his claim to her. The Doctor let out a possessive growl as he claimed her lips as his. His tongue ran along her bottom lip demanding entrance. He _needed_ to mark her as his so that everyone knew she was _his_.

Rose moaned and opened her lips and his tongue darted forward tasting and claiming her mouth. His hands began to roam, one hand went to the back of her head and tangled in her hair and pulled lightly, the moan he received in response had his hips thrusting forward. His other hand quickly found its way to her round and plump arse and gave it a possessive squeeze as he began to kiss away from her mouth to let her breathe.

" _Mine_." He growled out in his native tongue as he began to mark her neck. " _Mine_." He growled again as the hand on her arse moved around to the front and cupped her already soaked sex. " _Mine_." He continued as he began to stimulate her core through her jeans. He wanted to strip both of them of their clothes and mount her and claim her as his from the inside out. But something was yelling at him that it was too soon, that taking it further than this would be too much too soon.

"Doctor." Rose moaned as she clung to him, her eyes out of focus and her face flushed. Pride swelled in him as he unbuttoned her jeans and slid his hand in them to continue to pleasure her. _He_ was the reason she was out of breath. _He_ was the reason she was flushed. _He_ was the one making her legs weak and needing his arms to keep her standing. _He_ was the one she was soaked for.

" _Mine_." He told her as his finger slipped past her knickers and easily entered her. Rose tossed her head back with a loud moan before he slammed his mouth on hers. He worked his finger in and out of her before slipping another one inside her as he held her closer to him. She began to beg and plead for more as he buried his head in the crook of her neck and breathed in her scent that was full of need for _him_ and no one else. He needed to taste her.

Rose whined in lose when he suddenly took his fingers from her before he practically threw her onto the console and ripped her jeans and knickers off. He growled in both pleasure and possessiveness at the sight of her glistening sex and ignored his TARDIS's annoyance at them doing this on the console.

"Doctor." Rose moaned and within seconds his head was buried between her legs growling possessively as he swiped his tongue over her soaked lips. Her hands flew to his head and her fingers tried to find something to grab onto as his tongue entered her. A quick and fleeting thought flew through the back of his mind to grow his hair out, before her hands found his ears and pulled him closer. "Oh God! Doctor! Fuck!"

He pushed himself as close as he could. He needed more of her taste, and he would get it. His tongue slipped out of her to give some much-needed attention to her clitoris, he gave it a gentle nip before sucking it and allowing his tongue to write ' _mine_ ' in his native language. From his position between her legs, he watched _his_ Rose as he slipped three fingers into her as he bit and kissed her upper thighs as he fucked her with his fingers. Her head was thrown back, eyes close and lip between her teeth.

" _You are so beautiful and mine. You belong to me and I belong to you. I will protect and provide and love you for all of my lives. I ask for so little, just let me rule you and you can have everything you want. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave_." He vowed to her in his native language wishing she could understand him yet at the same time afraid that if she could it would be too much too soon. Rose bucked and tightened her grip on his ears as her walls tightened around his fingers, she was close. He brought his mouth back to her core began to suck and nip her clitoris as his fingers continued to all but slam into her.

"So close, so close! Like that! Yes! Doctor!" Rose began to babble.

"Cum for me." He whispered against her in English and she tensed up with a silent scream and he lapped up everything she gave him like a starving dog. Once he had cleaned her he got to his feet and kissed her, allowing her to taste herself on his tongue. She moaned and kissed him back before reaching out and went to undo his jeans, but he stopped her.

"What about you?" She whispered against his lips.

"We'll never leave the TARDIS if we worry about my needs, love. And I promised you Christmas in 1860 Naples." He told her as he helped her put her jeans and knickers back on before helping her down from the console. Her smile widened at being reminded about where they were.

"Well, come on then!" Rose said grabbing his hand and started jogging to the door, but the Doctor planted his feet stopping them and causing her to look at him in confusion.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked her.

"1860." Rose told him and the Doctor's eyes raked over her grey shirt covered with a pink and grey jacket, jeans, and trainers.

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella." He told her and she glanced at down at herself as if just noticing what she was wearing. "There's a wardrobe through there," He pointed towards the hallway to the right of the one that held their rooms, "first left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up!" He told her giving her a light push.

"Right. Won't be long!" Rose told him before giving him a quick peck on the lips and took off. He smiled after her lovingly and began to wonder what the TARDIS would pick out for her.


	9. Chapter 9

**For those of you that wish to get sneak peeks of future chapters or have questions that you want answered please feel free to join the Discord server 'Replay'. If you cannot find the server please contact me (MyariRose #1920) on Discord and let me know you wish to join the server and I will send you an invite. I hope to see you all there.**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine-**

When Rose got to the wardrobe room she couldn't stop herself from covering her face and blushed deeply as she leaned against the door, her mind racing over what had _just_ happened. She had always dreamed and fantasized about doing _that_ with him on the console, but _never_ in her entire life did she _ever_ believe he would actually do _that_. And what made it even better that it was her leather clad Doctor that had done it! She felt the TARDIS giggle in her head.

Rose sighed and shook her head. She had to get ready for their date in 1869 Cardiff instead of 1860 Naples. Rose pushed off the door and walked through the wardrobe room in search for that beautiful dress once more. She had loved it the first time she had worn it, loved the way the Doctor had looked at her. She wanted to see what his reaction to her in that dress would be this time around now that he wasn't holding himself back any more.

Finding the dress and slipping into it wasn't nearly as hard as it had been the first time, now that she knew how to do it. After quickly doing her hair and make up, Rose checked herself in the mirror making sure the black and maroon off the shoulder dress was sitting right and that her boobs weren't popping out. Her eyes caught the mark on her neck that the Doctor had made and rolled her eyes. As much as she wanted to keep it there, she knew that in this time period that mark would be too scandalous.

She spent five minutes covering the mark, and by the time she made it back to the console room the Doctor had gotten bored and started to tinker. Hearing her approach, the Doctor looked over at her and dropped his screwdriver in shock as his mouth dropped open. Rose blushed and smoothed the skirt of the dress down.

"Blimey." The Doctor breathed out, his eyes raking up and down her.

"Don't laugh." Rose told him even though she knew he never would, his reaction was similar to his first one, only that time he hadn't dropped his screwdriver. She wondered if he would add the 'for a human' part to his complement or not.

"You look beautiful." He told her.

"Considering I'm human?" Rose asked slightly insecure. It had hurt her quite a bit when he had told her that the first time seeing as she had spent time trying to make herself look as good as she could for him. She had picked out the dress with him in mind and everything. And when he had looked at her like he had she had thought it had worked, but then he had added that 'for a human' bit and it had taken everything in her not to cry. She had never told him, but after that, whenever he had complimented her look her mind would always whisper 'for a human' after it, and she never truly felt beautiful after that.

"Rose, you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I've seen quite a lot. I've seen the creation of the universe, I've seen almost every sunrise and sunset. I've seen the start of millions of species. And nothing I've ever seen can compare to your beauty." The Doctor told her climbing out from underneath the console to take her head in his hands. "And I doubt I'll ever find anything as beautiful as you, and whoever made you believe you aren't beautiful is a blind idiot." He finished with a soft kiss to her lips. Rose teared up as his words finally killed that stupid voice in the back of her mind and she finally felt beautiful again.

"Aren't you going to change?" Rose asked after taking a moment to collect herself. The Doctor looked down at himself in confusion, before spotting the fallen screwdriver.

"I've changed my jumper!" He told her as he quickly climbed back under the console and grabbed his screwdriver, shoving it into his pocket. "Come on." He said before climbing back up to her.

"You stay there, you've done this before." Rose told him rushing to the doors, she had loved doing this the first time and she would be damned if she didn't get to do it again this time. "This is _mine_." She told him as she stepped out of the TARDIS and into the breath takingly beautiful snow covered alley, it was just a beautiful and breath taking as before. She smiled to herself as the snow beneath her feet crunched as she slowly walked around letting herself take in everything.

"Ready for this?" The Doctor asked as he slipped a cloak over her shoulders allowing Rose to realize how cold she was. She quickly tied the cloak and pulled it close to try and warm up some. "Here we go." He smiled at her as he offered her his arm and she gladly took it smiling back at him. She would enjoy this peaceful time with him before they had to deal with the Gelth, and maybe this time they hopefully wouldn't fight each other, but something in her whispered that she would be disappointed in her hope. "History."

Rose allowed the Doctor to lead her out of the alley way and snuggled close to him as the wind and the cold hit them as she took in everything from the people to the horse drawn carriages. It was just as she remembered it, and just as cold too. The Doctor led her over to a paperboy and bought a paper, and Rose had to bite her tongue from laughing as he finally realized where he had landed them.

"I got the flight a bit wrong." The Doctor told her, his voice holding disappointment and anger.

"I don't care." Rose told him truthfully.

"It's not 1860, it's 1869." He told her.

"I don't care." Rose told him once more.

"And it's not Naples." He told her slightly embarrassed.

"I don't care." Rose told him again, already knowing where they were.

"It's Cardiff." The Doctor told her looking as if he was expecting her to be angry with him.

"Well then, let's go see what happens in 1869 Cardiff, shall we?" Rose asked causing him to smile widely at her. They continued walking arm in arm as Rose leaned her head on his shoulder knowing that in just a few short minutes their quiet night out would be interrupted. And, a few minutes later, screams cut through the air like she expected it to.

"That's more like it." The Doctor cried out happily tossing the newspaper over his shoulder as the two of them took off toward the scream at a run. They came to the theatre and Rose tried to keep her grip on the Doctor's arm hoping to not get separated form him this time. But her hand was dislodged from his arm by one of the many frightened theatre goers and she lost him in the crowd. "Rose!" The Doctor yelled for her.

"I'm fine! Go! I'll catch up with you!" Rose called to him before allowing herself to be pushed backwards with the crowd rather than waste the energy fighting her way through them. She would make her way into the theatre once the crowd had thinned. As she waited outside the theatre for the crowd to thin enough she caught sight of Gwyneth and Sneed loading the woman into the back of the hearse and ran over to her. "What are you doing?" She demanded even though she knew the answer.

"Oh!" Gwyneth called out in shock trying, and failing, to use her body to block Rose from seeing the woman's body. "It's a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself, me and the master will deal with it." Rose saw Sneed quickly slip behind the hearse and knew what he was about to do. "Fact is, this poor lady has been taken with a brain fever. We have to get her to the infirmary."

"You're lying, I know she's dead. Just like I know this isn't the first time this has happened." Rose told Gwyneth before her body reacted to the man behind her long before her brain had realized it had moved. One second she was staring down Gwyneth and the next, she was holding Sneed's arm behind his back and him on his knees in front of her with her growling at him. "Mr. Sneed. I must say it is very rude to drug someone who is only trying to help you with your little problem."

"Problem, Miss?" Sneed stammered out his eyes wide as he frantically looked around, either for a way out or trying to spot how many people had noticed him being taken down by a woman. "We-we have no problems. We are just trying to help this dear lady. Sick she is, you know."

"Right, and you trying to knock me out instead of just telling me that is common now a days is it?" Rose asked.

"Right, well, you see." Sneed stumbled out and Rose rolled her eyes before taking pity on the man who was just trying to do the only thing he thought he could do and released him. The second he was released, Gwyneth was by Sneed's side in an instant helping him up. "So, who are you then, Miss? To disturb us in this time of urgent need?" Rose bit back the urge to roll her eyes and smile at him as he tried to turn this around on her. Part of her was waiting for him to tell her she wouldn't understand, being a simple female that she was.

"My name is Rose and I'm a friend." She greeted him with a small, professional smile and a nod of the head. "I work for a man called the Doctor. We are very aware of your problem with the deceased being restless. We can help." Rose nearly laughed when the pair of them looked at her in shock, but she swallowed down the laugh and kept the professional smile on her face.

"And how exactly can this man help us?" Sneed asked softly as he closed the back door of the hearse. "Is he... is he from the Church?" Rose glanced back towards the theatre knowing that the Doctor would run out of there any minute now, she needed them here long enough for him to arrive. It would be hard enough to explain to him why she had stopped them without her having been in the theatre to witness them taking the woman.

"No, but I assure you that he has plenty of experience in dealing with the unknown." Rose told them.

"Ah, a detective than." Sneed nodded.

"Doctor, actually." Rose corrected him with a smile. "A very learned man. He and I can help you."

"Rose!" The Doctor called out to her in both excitement and worry. She looked towards the stairs of the theatre and saw him jogging down the steps towards them with Charles Dickens following him. She found it funny to watch Charles continue to rant and deny what he had seen with his own eyes. That was so the Charlie Boy she remembered so fondly. A smile bloomed over her face as she turned to address him and went to take a step towards him. Her heart stopped when her foot slipped sending her crashing to the cobblestone.

"ROSE!" Was the last thing she heard before her temple connected with the ground with a hard thud. And as everything faded away into darkness, the only thing floating through her mind were the words 'Of course'.

When Rose opened her eyes again she was confused for a couple of seconds as to why she was in her room sitting at her vanity. Shouldn't she with the Doctor helping him with the Gelth? It wasn't until she noticed that her reflection's eyes were glowing that she realized she was dreaming.

" _I wouldn't really call this a dream._ " Her reflection told her smiling wolfishly at her.

"Then what would you call it?" Rose asked.

" _A way to converse with you in a way you'll truly be able to understand me._ " Her reflection told her.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked and her reflection sighed in annoyance, but Rose got the feeling that the annoyance wasn't aimed at her.

" _I have been trying to converse with you for a while, ever since you gave birth to me-_ "

"Gave birth!?" Rose gasped out in shock. She had given birth to this thing? When? How? She had never been pregnant! At least, as far as she knew. Her reflection laughed at her.

" _Yes, gave birth, at least not in the way you're thinking. You created me. Half of me is you. Your body gave me life._ " Her reflection told her confusing and scaring her. " _Oh, I'm not explaining this well am I?_ "

"No." Rose told her reflection.

" _I am Bad Wolf._ " Her reflection told her and Rose could have sworn she heard what sounded like a wolf howling somewhere off in the distance. " _Normally when I try and talk to you, you never fully understand me. You get the gist what I'm trying to inform you, but never the whole thing. Like with Jack!_ "

"I understood what you meant about Jack, we made him the way he is now." Rose told Bad Wolf who growled at her.

" _No! Not the Face of Boe Jack! I'm talking about back in the flat when you wanted to talk to the Doctor about me but couldn't! I tried telling you to go find Jack at Torchwood or even to call him to talk to him but you did understand me and just shoved me away!_ " Bad Wolf told her with a huff.

"Sorry." Rose told her and Bad Wolf waved her apology away.

" _It's quite all right. I know there is, what you would call, a language barrier between us. It's a dance we have to figure out along the way. But it'll get easier for you to hear and understand me once you combine with the TARDIS once more, and a little more of me is left inside you._ " The Bad Wolf told her proudly confusing her.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked and Bad Wolf tilted her head.

" _Surely you understand that this body will have to go through looking into the heart of the TARDIS to save the Doctor. Rose Tyler looking into the heart of the TARDIS is a fixed moment in time, and must happen._ " Bad Wolf told her.

"No, I knew I would have to go through that again. But what do you mean about you being left inside me?" Rose asked.

" _Oh, not all of me. Your brain and body wouldn't be able to handle all of me, all that will be left is the amount that your body and brain can handle. Which, thanks to me, is a lot more this time around than last time._ " Bad Wolf told her proudly.

"You're still not making any sense!" Rose growled at her and Bad Wolf sighed.

" _After we safe the Doctor he turns right around and saves you by taking the Time Vortex out of you and releasing it back into the heart of the TARDIS. And doing that kills him. But he didn't get all of the Time Vortex out of you, there was a little piece left in the very back of your mind._ " Bad Wolf explained.

"And that piece was... I mean is you." Rose said and Bad Wolf nodded.

" _Yes, it was small but the longer you traveled with the Doctor inside the TARDIS the bigger is slowly became. As it grew it began to slowly change you to be able to handle holding it. You didn't notice the changes at first, and it probably would have taken you years to realize had you not met the Wire. You're not just faster, or stronger, or able to hold your breath longer. You're smarter and heal faster, you're able to feel and hear the TARDIS in a way not even the Doctor can. And you understand languages that are only spoken, read, and written by one other person._ " Bad Wolf told her with a smirk and Rose opened her mouth to ask what else had changed when Bad Wolf began to speak once more. " _But we don't have time for that, and I didn't ask the TARDIS to bring you here to talk about what you will learn over time._ "

"Then why did you bring me here?" Rose asked.

" _To tell you that Gwyneth must die tonight. And you must fight with the Doctor. He needs to know that he can be wrong and we'll be there for him even when he is wrong._ " Bad Wolf told her and Rose sighed.

"I see." Rose said before closing her eyes in slight annoyance, and when she opened them once more she found herself laying down staring into the worried blue eyes of the Doctor.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten-**

She jumped in shock, not expecting to see him there, before wincing in pain.

"Careful, Rose, you had a nasty fall." The Doctor told her softly as he ran his fingers through her hair. Rose closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his fingers sliding through her hair lovingly.

"Hi." She greeted him when she opened her eyes again causing him to chuckle.

"Hi." He told her with a soft smile before helping her sit up. Rose let her eyes roam the room as the Doctor eased his body behind her on the chaise to let her lean back heavily against his chest. Rose was happy to see that she hadn't woken in the viewing room this time and that there was no murderous old woman or young man bearing down on her. Across from them, Mr Sneed and Charles were talking in hushed tones before Mr Sneed looked over towards them.

"Well, sir, it seems your woman has woken and I do believe you promised to explain what was happening here once she had woken." Sneed said. Rose felt the Doctor sigh and looked up at him as he opened his mouth to respond to the man when his eyes caught the sight of something. Rose looked in the direction the Doctor was and noticed what he had.

"Having trouble with your gas?" The Doctor asked nodding towards the gas light that was flickering and waving as if trying to fight a strong gust of wind.

"What the Shakespeare is going on?" Charles asked as Gwyneth entered the room with a silver tray, four tea cups and a matching pot and creamer and sugar dishes balanced on it with ease. The Doctor carefully shifted out from behind Rose and moved to the wall.

Fear shot through Rose as her mind flashed back to being stuck in the viewing room and had to keep herself from reaching out to grab the Doctor and keep him with her. She locked eyes with the Doctor as he pressed his ear against the wall and listened. She knew what he was hearing: The Gelth were in the walls, more specifically, the gas pipes. Goose flesh raised on her arms. The Gelths had plagued her nightmares for months after she had first lived through this, and they would still crop up from time to time years later.

"There's something inside the walls. There's something living in the gas pipes." The Doctor said and Rose rubbed her arms, this was no nightmare anymore. Rose heard the whispers that always came with the nightmares, the whispers that brought with it a cold feeling that seemed both physical and mental. She couldn't stop herself from looking towards where she knew the white door of the viewing room was, knowing what lay just behind it. "Rose?" The Doctor asked softly walking over to her and kneeling in front of her. "What is it?"

Rose opened her mouth to answer him, to tell him how terrified she was of the Gelth. Her mind caught up with what she was about to do and she closed her mouth. She wasn't supposed to know what they were yet. Rose felt her eyes tear up in both fear and frustration, how could she explain what terrified her when she wasn't supposed to know what was terrifying her.

"I'm scared," Rose told him, "there's something here, I don't know what it is, but it's terrifying me." The Doctor reached out and placed his hand on her cheek comfortingly.

"Is there anyone else in this building with us?" The Doctor asked.

"No, sir, we are the only ones here." Gwyneth told him as quickly went about pouring Rose a cup of tea, making it the way Rose liked without being told how. Rose and the young woman locked eyes when the sound of a door handle rattling sounded from down the hall. Flashes of her time in the viewing room ran through her mind.

"Who else is here, child?" Charles demanded.

"No one." Mr Sneed denied as the Doctor shot to his feet and ran towards the viewing room, Charles right behind him. The second the Doctor was out of her sight, fear shot through room and she shot to her feet and ran after them.

"No!" Rose found herself crying out when she saw the Doctor about to open the door. "Don't open that door! They're in there!"

"What is in there?!" Charles demanded. Rose shook her head as the memory of cold hands grabbing her awoke in her.

"Lets find out." The Doctor growled and went to open the door again. Rose, without thinking, shot from her spot behind Charles to block the Doctor.

"Please, do not open this door, Doctor. I'm scared." Rose begged him. It was then that Rose realized that she wasn't _just_ scared of the Gelth but also of what was to come.

"Rose," the Doctor breathed out, a gentle hand coming to rest on her cheek, "I _need_ to know what is behind that door." Rose shook her head knowing that once he saw what was behind this door then she would no longer be able to stall for time. Once this door was open and the Doctor got a look at the Gelth then the fighting would happen and Gwyneth would die. A tear fell down her face, she knew she couldn't stop either of the two from happening, but she could _hope_ to delay them. "I _need_ to know what to protect you from." Just then cold, dead hands broke through the door and grabbed Rose causing her to scream.

"DOCTOR!" All of her nightmares rushed to her at once.

"Rose!" The Doctor roared ripping the arms from around her before pulling her safely to his body and kicked the door in to show the possessed bodies of the obviously dead mother and son.

"It's a prank. Must be. We're under some mesmeric influence." Charles muttered from behind the Doctor as Rose clung to the Doctor.

"No, the dead are walking." The Doctor growled out, his arm tightening around Rose. "My name's the Doctor. Who are you then? What do you want?"

"Failing." The Gelth said and Rose flinched at the sound of their voices. "Open the rift. We're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us."

"No!" Rose told them causing the Doctor to look at her in shock, not expecting her to be so cruel especially after she had pleaded for Cassandra's life, before his head whipped around to the shrieking Gelths as they left the bodies of the dead mother and son. Their bright blue gaseous form causing Rose to flinch back before hiding her face in the Doctor's coat. Breathing in the comforting smell of his leather coat, taking in as much comfort as she could, needing it for what was about to happen.

Once the dead bodies were picked up from the floor where the Gelths had dumped them and placed back in their rightful spot. The Doctor led Mr. Sneed and Charles back to the parlor room with Rose still in his arms while Gwyneth rushed around to get fresh tea. Once in the parlor room, the Doctor gently sat Rose down on the chaise before he began to pace behind her. Rose fought the urge to curl in on herself wishing that this night was over with.

"Right, Mr. Sneed I do believe it is time for you to start talking." The Doctor growled out.

"There is nothing to say." Mr. Sneed told him stiffly.

"Nothing to say? I beg to differ, Mr. Sneed. There is something living in your pipes and your dead bodies _just_ got up and attacked Rose!" The Doctor snapped.

"It's not my fault, it's this house!" Sneed snapped back before his face paled at what he had just admitted before he took a deep breath, and looked towards Charles. "It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much better until a few months back, and then the stiffs..." Charles gave him an unimpressed look causing Sneed to gulp and look at the Doctor, "the, um, dear departed started getting restless."

"Tommyrot!" Charles snorted into his tea and Rose had to mentally remind herself that this was Charles _before_ writing the Christmas Carol.

"You witnessed it!" Sneed defended. "Can't keep the beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang onto scraps..." Rose caught sight of Gwyneth carrying a cup of tea towards the Doctor.

"Two sugars, sir, just how you like it." Gwyneth muttered and Rose had to stop herself from correcting the young woman. The Doctor only like two sugars in his tea when he was relaxing after a long day of running and fiddling with the TARDIS, otherwise the Doctor took his tea with a splash of milk. Gwyenth's eyes flashed to hers and Rose knew then that she hadn't thought that quietly enough. "Sorry, we're out of fresh milk until tomorrow." She muttered before rushing off, the Doctor's shocked look following her.

"One old fellow who used to be a sexton almost walked into his own memorial service." Sneed continued to explain to Charles as Gwyneth rushed towards the tea set and picked up another cup and Rose suddenly wished she could have her mother's special tea with lemon and honey.

"Sorry, ma'am, got no honey at the moment." Gwyneth muttered as she handed Rose her cup of tea.

"'S all right, thank you." Rose muttered.

"Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir, just as she had planned." Sneed said.

"Morbid fancy." Charles denied.

"Oh, Charles you were there." The Doctor told him, obviously growing annoyed with Charles and his continual denial of what was right in front of him.

"I saw _nothing_ but and _illusion_." Charles denied glaring at the Doctor.

"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time, just shut up." The Doctor growled at him, shocking Charles. It was obvious that Charles wasn't used to people talking to him like the Doctor was. The Doctor turned his attention to Sneed. "What about the gas?"

"That's new, sir. I never seen anything like that." Sneed told him honestly.

"Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's sneaking through." The Doctor explained.

"We need to close this rift thing. Also what's the rift?" Rose asked knowing she wasn't supposed to know what a rift was yet. She purposefully kept her mind _away_ from how they were going to need to close the rift, Gwyneth was in the room and she didn't what the young woman to know how she was going to die.

"A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time." The Doctor explained.

"That's how I got the house so cheap," Sneed said as Charles left the room, "stories going back generations. Echoes in the dark. Queer songs in the air. And this feeling, like a shadow, passing over your soul." Rose couldn't stop her eyes from sliding away from Sneed and landing on a very nervous Gwyneth. "Mind you, truth be told it's been good for business, just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine."

 **~Replay~**

The Doctor sighed as he rubbed his forehead as he walked down the corridor to his room. Martha had lain down to rest three hours ago. He had intended to use that time to tinker with the TARDIS and force his mind not to think of Rose. She was gone. She was living a normal life, the life she should have had, in Pete's world. But after three hours of sitting with his legs curled into his chest and his face buried into his knees as he finally cried, he was worn out. He cried for the loss of his love. He cried for the cruel irony of the world. He cried over the fact that her choice had been taken from her. And after he had cried he had grown tired.

He easily found the door that he was looking for and opened it. His tired mind not registering the fact this both his name and Rose's name had been written on the door in the golden circles of his written language. His brown jacket had slid off his body even before the door to his room had fully shut. He walked over to the bed and collapsed onto it, not bothering to undress _or_ take his trainers off. His body bounced a little.

He sighed wistfully as his mind recalled the first time he had tossed Rose onto this very bed. He closed his eyes and let the memory wash over him. He rolled over and allowed his hand to drift down his chest, under his trousers (sent a silent thinks that this body hated wearing pants), and gripped his hard member and began to stroke himself to thoughts of his beautiful Rose. He thought of her scent and the way he loved the smell of her arousal. He thought of the delicious way she tasted on his tongue as he would bring her over the edge with just his tongue. But most importantly, he thought of the way she felt wrapped so tightly around him that it was almost painful.

It wasn't until after his third release that night that he felt somewhat sated enough to fall asleep that he realized something was wrong. His eyes shot open and he sprang up in bed.

He had never brought Rose to his room before, not even to comfort her after a particularly bad adventure (that he would do in her room), having not trusted himself to not sprint over that very thin line between friend and lover. Thus he should not have any memories of him picking her up and lightly tossing her onto the bed just to see those beautiful breasts of her bounce.

That was another thing. He had _never_ tasted her sweet nectar the way his memories portrayed. He had _never_ all but tossed her onto the console and brought her to completion with his tongue and fingers. Not that he had never _thought_ about doing so (and he had do so frequently), but he couldn't do that with her. She was a human. He was a Time Lord. Her life span was so much shorter than his. If he allowed himself to be with her the way that his memories were portraying, he would shatter and break and never be able to fix himself ever again once he had lost her.

Ghostly fingers ran through his hair. Massaging at just the right spots to calm him. Lips brushed against his temples. A shuddering sigh passed his lips. A scent of his Rose wafting through the air.

He shot to his feet with panic bubbling in him. This wasn't right! Something was terribly wrong! He called up his Time Senses and scanned his time line. It was difficult, painful almost, but he was able to do it. He gasped in shock at what he was seeing. His time line had split! Something was changing his past! He could not allow that. If something was changing his past then his future would change! One wrong change of his past and he might never had stumbled upon the Nestene Consciousness! He might not have been in that basement to save Rose!

No. He would not allow that. He would find whatever was changing his past and put it right. His Rose's life depended on that!

The Doctor shot out of his room. And in his hast, he missed the sweet sound of his Rose's soft humming.

 **~Replay~**

Rose stood just out side the small washroom in the kitchen area where she knew Gwyneth was. She knew that this conversation had to happen, it was one of the many clues left through out time and space from Bad Wolf to lead her back to the game station. She couldn't miss _any_ of the clues if she wanted to save the Doctor, this was necessary. With a deep breath, Rose forced her mind away from what would be happening to the young woman latter on that night and thought about her home and stepped into the room.

Gwyneth was just finishing lighting the gas light as Rose walked over to this era's version of a sink intending to help Gwyneth. "Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping, it's not right." Gwyneth called out.

"Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death." Rose told her with a soft smile. Gwyneth held out her hand for the rag in silent demand. Rose lightly rolled her eyes and handed the rag to the nervous woman.

"How much do you get paid?" Rose asked knowing that she couldn't change anything about this interaction.

"Eight pounds a year, miss." Gwyneth told her, her voice a mix of pride and shame. Even now, it still shocked Rose how little Gwyneth made. She had to remind herself that eight pounds a year in this era was a lot for woman of her status.

"How much?" Rose asked.

"I know! I would have been happen with six." Gwyneth stated before turning around to wash the dishes. Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and went to ask the same question she had the first time. "You don't have to do this, Miss Rose." Gwyneth whispered bowing her head.

"Do what?" Rose asked blinking.

"Pretend." Gwyneth told her. "You and I both know that you've already had this whole conversation with me. I don't quite understand it myself. But I look at you and I can see this conversation happening with you from a time long past, and yet it hasn't happened for me." Rose gulped wondering how much Gwyneth was seeing. "You've come such a long way."

"What makes you think so?" Rose asked in a whisper, her eyes locked to Gwyneth's. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't something was keeping her there. Memories of growing up in London were pulled from her mind, just as they had the last time.

"You're from London." Gwyneth whispered, her eyes searching Rose's. "I've seen London in drawings, but never like that, all those people rushing about. Half-naked, for shame." Gwyneth hissed out. "And the noise..." She shook her head as if trying to dispel the sound from her mind. "And the metal boxes racing past... and the birds in the sky... No... No, they're metal as well..." Rose's mind flash to her time in Pete's world where no airplanes existed, only blimps, "No... they're cloth... both? Metal and cloth birds with people in them." Gwyneth's bottom lip began to quiver in fear. "People are flying. And you. You've flown so far. Further than anyone. Further than that you in your memories. The things you've seen. The darkness. The big bad wolf." Bad Wolf howled in the back of her mind and Gwyneth flung herself away from Rose in fear.

"I'm sorry." Rose whispered.

"No, miss. I'm the one who should be sorry." Gwyneth whispered fearfully.

"It's all right." Rose told her softly. She had been ready for it this time. Had known what to expect. Though it still shook her up, she wasn't as shaken up as she had been last time.

"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mum said I had the sight. She told me to hide it." Gwyneth told her.

"But it's getting stronger." The Doctor said causing both of them to jump. How long had he been there? What had he heard? "More powerful. Is that right?" Gwyneth and Rose locked eyes, fear was in her eyes. She was fearful that she had ruined whatever Rose had been doing.

"All the time, sir." Gwyneth told him. "Every night, voices in my head."

"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it." The Doctor told her. "You're the key."

"No!" Rose shouted, not able to stop her shocking both Gwyneth and the Doctor. Rose covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn't meant for that to come out knowing that this was supposed to happen.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked. She shook her head. "What's wrong?" She shook her head again. "Please, Rose, tell me so that I can fix it."

"You can't." Rose whispered.

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir." Gwyneth said as she locked eyes with Rose, getting them back on track. "Consulted with spiritualist, table-rappers, all sorts." Rose felt the Doctor's eyes on her, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"Well," he started as his gaze drifted from her to Gwyneth, "that should help. You can show us what to do."

"What to do where, sir?" Gwyneth asked.

"We're going to have a seance." The Doctor told her with a smirk and Rose closed her eyes to fight back her tears. She was going to hate this.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven-**

"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of the Mists, down in big town." Gwyneth explained after having sat everything up the way she needed. She had placed everyone in their seats, Rose silently wondered if she had taken the seating arrangement from her memory. "Come. We must all join hands." Rose reached over and took the Doctor's hand with her left and held out her right for Charles to take.

"I can't take part in this." Charles scoffed standing up, causing the Doctor to glare at him.

"Humbug?" The Doctor asked before relaxing his face, dropping his glare. "Come on. Open mind." Charles sighed as he turned to give the Doctor a hard look.

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask." Charles told the Doctor, causing him to roll his eyes. "Seances! Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees." He said glaring at Gwyneth. "This girl knows nothing."

"Now, don't antagonize her." The Doctor told Charles before looking at Rose with a smirk. "I love a happy medium." And despite the fact the Rose knew exactly how this seance was going to end for the two of them, Rose couldn't help chuckling at his corny joke.

"I can't believe you just said that." Rose told him lightly with the shake of her head. The Doctor beamed at her before giving Charles a hard stare.

"Come on. We might need you." The Doctor told him. Charles sighed and fought with himself for a minute before he sat down and took Rose's hand in his left hand and Mr. Sneed's in his right. "Good man." Charles rolled his eyes and stared at the table, refusing to meet the Doctor's gaze. "Now, Gwyneth. Reach out."

Rose watched Gwyneth as she took a deep breath. Staring at the wall with unseeing eyes, Rose knew she was channeling the Gelth. She fought the urge to run. She had to do this. The TARDIS and Bad Wolf were counting on her. This wasn't just about her. Bad Wolf was right, the Doctor _needed_ to know that Rose would always be there for him, rather he was right or wrong. He _needed_ to know that Rose would be there to help him whenever he made a mistake. The Doctor _needed_ to know that nothing short of being trapped in a parallel universe (and even then not that) would cause Rose to leave him. The could scream and yell at each other, but the Doctor needed to understand the Rose would _still_ be by his side after the argument ended.

"Speak to us." Gwyneth called out. "Are you there?" Rose kicked Charles under the table when she caught him rolling his eyes. "Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." Goose flesh began to rise on her arms when she felt the temperature drop. They were coming. The whispers that haunted her nightmares began, starting out soft before growing louder.

"They're here." Rose whispered.

"There is no one here besides us. This is sheer folly." Charles told her.

"Charles, shut up and take a good look at Gwyneth." Rose hissed at him. The young woman had begun to stare up at the ceiling as she rocked back and forth.

"I see them!" Gwyneth told them. Rose glanced up at the ceiling and nearly screamed when she caught sight of the bright blue wisps of the Gelth's gaseous form. "I feel them!" The wisps floated down from the ceiling and floated around them. Rose gasped as one touched her bare skin. It was so cold that it burnt.

"What's it saying?" Rose asked tightening her hold on the Doctor's hand to keep herself planted in her seat. She had to do this. This was for the Doctor.

"It can't get through the rift." The Doctor translated. "Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now look deep. Allow them through."

"I can't." Gwyneth said.

"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth." The Doctor told her. Rose stared at the woman, fear for Gwyneth flooded her. She wanted to stop this. Wanted to protect Gwyneth. But she couldn't. This had to happen. "Make the link." Gwyneth's eyes shot up.

"Yes!" She cried out in victory. A wisps took the form of three humanoids standing behind Gwyneth.

"Great God!" Mr. Sneed breathed out in shock. "Spirits from the other side!"

"The other side of the universe." The Doctor told him.

"Pity us!" The Gelth said through Gwyneth. "Pity the Gelth! There is so little time. Help us!"

"What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked.

"The rift. Take the girl to the rift." The Gelth said and Rose had to bite her tongue and tighten her hold on the Doctor to keep from jumping up and telling the Gelth to stick it where the sun don't shine. "Make the bridge."

"What for?" The Doctor asked.

"We are so very few." The Gelth lied. "The last of our kind. We face extinction!"

"Why, what happened?" The Doctor asked.

"Once we had a physical form, like you. But then the War came." The Gelth accused and Rose tightened her hand even more around the Doctors knowing that any mention of the Time War would fill him with guilt. And if you word it just the right way, toss in a couple mentions of being the last of your kind, stir in a good portion of a species going extinction, and you get a piping hot plate of guilt ridden Doctor that would do anything you ask. Rose had always wondered how the Gelth had know how to manipulate the Doctor so well. Had they used Gwyneth's abilities to sneak a peak at the Doctor's mind?

"War? What war?" Charles asked.

"The Time War." The Gelth said and Rose gritted her teeth in anger at the guilty look on her Doctor's face. If she could slap these Gelth, she would. "The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."

"So that's why you need the corpses." The Doctor said in understanding.

"We want to stand tall. To feel the sunlight. To live again. We need a physical form and your dead are abandoned. They go to waste. Give them to us." The Gelth ordered.

"No." Rose said firmly once more gaining a shocked look from the Doctor.

"Why not?" The Doctor demanded, Rose's mind race to find a good excuse. She couldn't say that it was because the Gelth were lying about their number, she wasn't supposed to know that. She couldn't tell him that they were tricking him, she knew he would not believe her with how guilt ridden the Gelth had made him.

"It's because..." Rose started. "I mean, it's not..." What could she say?

"Not decent? Not polite?" The Doctor growled out. "It could save their lives." Rose glared at him in anger. Not at him but at the situation. She understood that he felt guilty, she understood that nothing she would ever say or do would remove the self hate he had for himself for surviving while his people perished. She understood that she could not change what was happening. She understood that this fight had to happen. But it didn't make it any easier. She wanted to tell him everything that was going to happen tonight! She wanted to tell him that she had already lived through this! But she _couldn't_ , and it _frustrated_ her to no end.

"Open the rift. Let the Gelth through." The Gelth demanded and Rose turned her glare from the Doctor towards the Gelth. "We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth!" The Gelth left Gwyneth to fly back into the gas pipes as the young woman gasped for breath, slumping across the table. Rose shot from her seat and ran over to check on the young woman.

"Gwyneth!" She cried as she helped the young woman sit up, cradling Gwyneth's head to her chest like a mother would her child.

"All true." Rose heard Charles say in shock.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked Gwyneth.

"It's all true." Charles stated. Rose helped Gwyneth stand and helped the young woman walk to the lounge, allowing the very out of if young woman to lean on her the whole way. She ignored the Doctor as he followed them, she wasn't ready to continue the argument just yet. Rose wanted to make sure Gwyneth was safe, that no lasting damage had happened to her. She barely listened to the conversation that was going on behind her between her Doctor, Mr. Sneed and Charles. When Gwyneth finally came too, her eyes widened as seeing Rose bent over her as she laid on the couch. She made to get up, but Rose gently pushed her back down.

"It's all right. You just sleep." Rose told her.

"But my angels, miss!" Gwyneth said and Rose fought off the urge to explain to the young woman how those _things_ were no angels. "They came, didn't they? They need me."

"They do need you, Gwyneth." The Doctor said from behind her. "You're their only chance of survival."

"Leave her alone." Rose growled out, her eyes flashing dangerously. "She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles." The Doctor angrily rolled his eyes at her and she growled at him as he sighed in annoyance. Let the bugger be annoyed at her, she'd rather that than him feel guilty for something that was not his fault. Rose turned back to Gwyneth. "Now, drink this." She told the girl softly as she handed her a glass of water trying to keep her mind clear of everything but what was happening right this moment as Gwyneth watched her in a way that told Rose that the young woman was trying to see into her mind.

"But what did you say, Doctor?" Mr. Sneed asked. "Explain it again. What are they?"

"Aliens." The Doctor told him. Rose could feel his hard stare, but she refused to look at him.

"Like, foreigners, you mean?" Mr. Sneed asked finally pulling the Doctor's attention away from Rose and Gwyneth.

"Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." The Doctor said.

"Brecon?" Mr. Sneed asked.

"Close." The Doctor told him even though both him and Rose knew that Brecon was nowhere near close to where the Gelth were coming from. "And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff, but the road's blocked." The Doctor explained in a way that would be the easiest for Mr. Sneed to comprehend. "Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long. Then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."

"Which is why they need the girl?" Charles asked.

"They're not having her!" Rose growled out spinning around to glare that Charles.

"But she can help." The Doctor told her and Rose turned her body so that her back was to him and glared at the wall in front of her. "Living on the rift, she's become part of it. She can open it up, make a bridge and let them through." Rose bit her tongue to keep from adding that she would _die_ in the process, forgetting, in that moment, that Gwyneth was seeing her thoughts.

"Incredible. Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our realm by inhabiting cadavers." Charles said.

"Good system. It might work." The Doctor said.

"It won't." Rose growled out.

"And why not?" The Doctor asked. Rose shot up from her spot next to Gwyneth and spun around to glare at him.

"You can't let them run around inside of dead people!" Rose told him.

"I'll ask again: Why not? It's like recycling." The Doctor told her.

"Seriously though, you can't." Rose told him.

"Seriously though, I can." The Doctor growled at her.

"It's just wrong!" Rose barked at him. "Those bodies were living people. We should respect them, even in death." The Doctor had pushed off the wall he was leaning against to face her properly, annoyance clear on his face. She knew what his response was even before he said it.

"Do you carry a donor card?" The Doctor asked, trying to sound calm.

"It's different, that's..." Rose started but was cut off.

"It is different, yeah." The Doctor told her. "It's a different morality. Get used to it. Or go home." He growled at her. Rose closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

"Doctor," Rose started as she opened her eyes and gave him a hard stare, "when this blows up in your face, when you find out that the Gelth are not what they claim, that they are not just going to settle for the few dead bodies that there already are, remember this: I'll be here. I'll be right beside you, helping you fix the mess that you are about to cause." Rose told him before spinning on the balls of her feet and and storming to the other side of the room. She felt his confused stare on her back as she found a chair and sat in it, refusing to make eye contact with him. She was angry and annoyed and she didn't want to fight with him anymore.

Even though she knew that he would never leave her (he had called her _his_ earlier that morning!), but it still hurt to hear him all but tell her to leave. She wiped a tear from her eye. After everything was all said and done, and they had calmed down, Rose was going to make the Doctor beg her for forgiveness for they way he had spoken to her.

"Doctor?" Gwyneth called out, Rose's attention snapped back the young woman finally realizing she had been allowing herself to think about what would happen to the young woman. "What do I have to do?"

"You don't _have_ to do anything." The Doctor told Gwyneth, never looking away from Rose.

"They've been singing to me since I was a child. Sent by my mam on a holy mission, so tell me." Gwyneth told him softly. Rose felt the Doctor finally look away from her to look at Gwyneth.

"We need to find the rift." The Doctor told her before turning and walking away. "This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mr. Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?"

"That would be the morgue." Mr. Sneed said.

 **~Replay~**

Rose gripped the back of the Doctor's coat as they followed Mr. Sneed down into the basement where the morgue was. She may have still been upset and hurt by his, but she still knew that he would keep her safe. The place was dark and dingy and just as chilly as she remembered it. The three white examining tables spread out along the walls each had a body covered by a white sheet on them. The walls were a morbid gray.

"Huh!" The Doctor scoffed as they walked further into the room, Rose's grip tightening. "Talk about Bleak House."

"Doctor, I think the room is getting colder." Charles noted, and he was right. The room had dropped in temperature. The whispers started up again and Rose tightened her grip on the Doctor's coat. The Doctor reached back to take her hand and she growled at him. Just because she was taking comfort in him being there did not give him the right to try and touch her while she was still mad at him. The Doctor got the message and let her cling to his coat.

"Here they come." Rose growled out as the blue wisps of gas flew from the lights and over towards the arch way leading to the side room of the morgue.

"You've come to help!" The Gelth said as it took the shape of a humanoid. "Praise the Doctor! Praise him."

"Promise you won't hurt her." Rose demanded even though she already knew the out come. Tears formed in her eyes knowing that the second Gwyneth stepped into the rift she would die. Rose hoped it wouldn't be painful, she didn't want Gwyneth to suffer in her last moments. Gwyneth's eyes locked onto Rose's and she could see the determination in them. Even though Gwyneth saw what would happen to her, she still wanted to do this.

"Hurry! Please! So little time. Pity the Gelth!" The Gelth cried, ignoring her.

"I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer." The Doctor told the Gelths. "Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?"

"My angels! I can help them live." Gwyneth said.

"Okay, where's the weak point?" The Doctor asked.

"Here, beneath the arch!" The Gelth said. Gwyneth began to move towards the arch, but Rose's hand shot out and gently grabbed her by the arm.

"Rose, we don't have time for this." The Doctor growled.

"I know, just...just give me _one_ second." Rose said before flinging her arms around Gwyneth, shocking the poor girl. "You are so brave. Remember that. I don't know if I could do what you're about to do."

"But, in a way, you are." Gwyneth whispered to her before gently removing Rose's arms from around her and continued towards the archway. "Beneath the arch." She said before standing under the arch and Rose let one tear drop from her eyes, Gwyneth was dead.

"Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!" The Gelth demanded.

"Yes! I can see you. I can see you! Come!" Gwyneth's body said. Rose saw when the Doctor took note that something wasn't right.

"Bridgehead establishing." The Gelth stated.

"Come to me. Come to this world. Poor lost souls." Gwyneth's body said. Rose knew the second the Doctor had realized what was wrong.

"It has begun! The bridge is made." The Gelth said and Gwyneth's body opened it's mouth. Thousands of Gelths flew through the golden light that was inside Gwyneth's mouth, rushing out to find a body to inhabit. "She has given herself to the Gelth!"

"Rather a lot o them, eh?" Mr. Sneed commented. The Doctor looked at Rose with a look of utter regret and knew that he was blaming himself for not listening to her, for allowing the Gelth to trick him. Rose took his hand in hers knowing that he needed the comfort.

"The bridge is open. We descend." The Gelth cried before taking on a demonic fiery form. "The Gelth will come through in force." They said, their voice deeper and darker, more demonic.

"You said that you were few in number!" Charles cried out.

"A few billion! And all of us in need of corpses!" The Gelth growled out as the bodies around them began to rise.

"Now, Gwyneth, stop this." Mr. Sneed ordered. "Listen to your master! This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you."

"Mr. Sneed, get back!" Rose cried as one of the corpses made its way to him. Rose reached out in hopes to latch on to the man and pull him away from the corpse, but she had been too slow. The second the corpse took hold of Mr. Sneed the Doctor wrapped his arms around her and flung them away from Mr. Sneed and the corpse. "No!" Rose cried as the corpse snapped his neck. That was a life that she could have saved had she been quick enough. That was a life that did not need to end! That was a life that could have, _should have_ , lasted for a few more years had she just been paying more attention! She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the Gelth enter his body.

"I think it's going a little bit wrong." The Doctor muttered.

"We'll fix this, together." Rose told him, opening her eyes to look at him.

"I have joined the legions of the Gelth." Mr. Sneed's body informed them. "Come, march with us."

"Oh, Glory!" Charles cried out.

"We need bodies. All of you, dead." The Gelth ordered as the Doctor backed them into the only place that didn't have dead bodies: a small room with an iron gate and a small window that lead outside. "The human race, dead."

"Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back, now!" The Doctor cried out.

"Three more bodies! Convert them!" The Gelth ordered. "Make them vessels for the Gelth!"

"Doctor, I can't! I'm sorry." Charles cried from the doorway. "This new world of your, it's too much for me."

"Go! Get out of here! Do what you must!" Rose cried to him as the Doctor opened the iron gate and practically threw Rose into the room before following her while closing the iron gate. He quickly pulled out his screwdriver and sealed the gate shut.

"I'm so sorry!" Charles yelled before taking off out of the morgue.

"Give yourself to glory." The Gelth ordered as all of the bodies in the morgue made their way to them, trying to get at them. "Sacrifice your lives to the Gelth.

"I trusted you. I pitied you!" The Doctor growled at them as they pressed their backs to the cement wall, trying to get as far away from the Gelth. Rose's fear was at it's highest as her eyes flew from dead eyes to dead eyes as cold, dead hands reached through the iron bars to try and grab her. This moment right now would never leave her, would always haunt her. Anytime a hand came through a door to crab at her, she would always flash back to this moment. After this moment, she had never been able to watch a zombie movie ever again. They would remind her too much of the Gelth and she would once again be trapped in this room with the Gelth fighting to get to her.

"We don't want your pity! We want this world and all its flesh." The Gelth hissed at them.

"Not while I'm alive." The Doctor growled.

"Then live no more." The Gelth told him.

"But I can't die. Tell me I can't die." Rose said, her fear over taking her. She knew the answer, she just wanted him to lie to her and tell her that because she was in the past she couldn't die because it would mess up the future (not that she was gonna die here anyway). "I haven't even been born yet," she began to ramble in her fear, "it's impossible for me to die."

"I'm sorry." The Doctor whispered to her. That wasn't what she wanted! She didn't want the truth! She wanted a sweet lie! She _knew_ she could die here, _knew_ it was possible. One wrong move, move too quick, not move quick enough, and she was dead.

"That's not what you were suppose to say!" Rose hissed at him, gaining a confused look. "I know I can die here. I know it's possible. I know that I can be born in the 20th century and die in the 19th! I know that time isn't a strict progression of cause to effect, and that it's actually a non-linear, non-subjective view point, like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey..." Rose searched for a word, "...stuff!" The Doctor blinked at her. "I didn't _want_ you to tell me the truth! I wanted you to _lie_ to me. I wanted you to tell me that I _couldn't_ die here!" She snapped at him.

"Oh, Rose, this is all my fault." The Doctor told her. "I brought you here." Rose bit back the urge growl at him.

"This is not your fault, Doctor." Rose told him firmly, taking his hand in hers. "I wanted to come."

"What about me?" The Doctor asked. "I saw the fall of Troy. World War Five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party." Rose looked at the Doctor in shock, had he been panicking this much the last time? "Now I'm gonna dies in a dungeon, in Cardiff!" He hissed out in disgust and Rose could help the laugh that flew through her lips.

"We're not gonna die here." Rose told him, squeezing his hand.

"Rose..." The Doctor started.

"No, listen to me. We are not going to die here. I won't allow it. Do you know why?" Rose asked and the Doctor shook his head. "It's because there is still so much we haven't done. Still so much for us to see." Rose told him before allowing a cheeky smirk onto her face as she made a show of checking him out. "I mean, I haven't even got to _see_ you. You've gotten to _see_ me. Isn't it only fair that I get to _see_ you?" She laughed at his flabbergasted look, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to come up with a remark. And then she smelt it. The gas. And it kept growing. Charles had come back!

"You ready to fight?" Rose asked the Doctor.

"Yeah." The Doctor told her.

"Together?" Rose asked.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." The Doctor told her, squeezing her hand. "I'm so glad I met you." Rose quickly pulled him into a quick kiss.

"Me, too." She told him.

"Doctor! Doctor!" Charles cried running back into the morgue, a handkerchief over his mouth and nose. "Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now fill the room! All of it, now!"

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked.

"Turn it all on!" Charles ordered running over to a light, flipping it off to stop the flame before opening the valve all the way. "Flood the place!"

"Brilliant, gas!" The Doctor realized.

"Right, everyone, hold your breaths!" Rose cried.

"Am I correct, Doctor?" Charles asked as he continued to turn off the flames and open the valves to all the the lights in the morgue. "These creatures are gaseous."

"Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host." The Doctor agreed. "Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!"

"I hope..." Charles whispered in fear as the Gelth turned their attention onto him. "Oh, Lord! I hope that this theory will be validated soon. If not immediately."

"Plenty more." The Doctor growled out, dropping Rose's hand to yank a gas pipe off the wall, allowing the gas flowing in it to escape into the room causing the Gelth to be sucked out of the bodies with a loud, ear piercing shriek.

"It's working!" Charles said as one by one the bodies dropped to the floor. Once all of the bodies were emptied of the Gelth, and the ceiling was covered with the bright blue gaseous forms of the Gelth, the Doctor quickly unsealed the iron gate and began to make his way over to Gwyneth's body, Rose right behind him.

"Gwyneth, send them back. They lied, they're not angels!" The Doctor cried. Gwyneth's body lowered its arms, and closed its mouth, slumping slightly.

"Liars?" It asked.

"Look at me." The Doctor said carefully stepping over the bodies on the ground. "If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!"

"Can't breathe." Rose groaned getting light headed.

"Charles, get her out." The Doctor ordered. Charles walked over and began to gently lead her out of the morgue before she caught what was happening.

"No!" Rose cried pulling away from him. "I'm not leaving with out the Doctor!"

"They're too strong." Gwyneth's body told them weakly.

"Remember that world you saw?" The Doctor reminded her. "Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift!"

"I can't send them back." Gwyneth's body told him firmly. "But I can hold them. Hold them in this place. Hold them here." Gwyneth's body reached a hand into the apron. "Get out." It ordered them as it pulled out a box of matches.

"No!" Rose cried before she could stop herself, she was so dizzy, had that been this her or her past self? Her body shot towards Gwyneth, only to be stopped by the Doctor.

"Leave this place!" Gwyneth's body begged her as Rose's legs gave out. The room was spinning. Why was the room spinning? What was happening? Was this another nightmare? She needed to wake up! She didn't want to relive the explosion! Why wasn't she waking up?

"Rose, get out, go now!" The Doctor cried as the room began to spin even faster. "I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!" Charles had taken her into his arms now. He helped her quickly leave the room. He all but carried her up the stairs.

"This way!" Charles coughed out. Within minutes they were stumbling out of the door and into fresh air. It didn't take long for Bad Wolf to expel the noxious gas from her system, clearing her mind and steadying the world. This was no nightmare. She would not awaken from this to the comforts of her bed. Seconds after the Doctor bolted through the door of the house, Rose watched as he was thrown to the ground by the explosion.

"Doctor!" Rose cried out running over to him and helped him off the ground once the initial blast had died down as the house went up in flame.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't save her." The Doctor whispered, tears in his eyes. Rose swallowed her urge to cry, having already had time to morn for the young woman, and pulled the Doctor into a loving hug.

"It's all right, love. I know you did your best." She told him. "She closed the rift. She did what she was destined to do."

"At such a cost. The poor child." Charles said.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor cried, holding her tightly to him.

"There was nothing you could do. She was dead the moment she stood in that arch." Rose muttered into his ear. "She saved the world. A servant girl. No one but us three will ever know." Rose and Charles stood there watching the house burn as the Doctor buried his head in the crook of her neck muttering apologies after apologies. Once the Doctor got himself collected enough to pull away from Rose to take her hand in his, he turned and led them away from the house, and back towards the TARDIS. It was silent between them. No one speaking. No one needing to.

"Right then, Charlie boy," The Doctor said in an obviously false cheerful voice, no one dared to point this out, "I've just got to go into my, um, shed." The Doctor told him as they came upon the TARDIS. The Doctor pulled out his set of key and unlocked the door. "Won't be long."

"What are you going to do now?" Rose asked him.

"I shall take the mail-coach back to London, quite literally post-haste." Charles joked and Rose gave him a smile. "This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learnt tonight, there can be nothing more vital."

"You've cheered up." The Doctor told him with a proud smile.

"Exceedingly!" Charles cried out happily before chuckling. "This morning, I though I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor! I am inspired, I must write about them!"

"Do you think that's wise?" Rose asked.

"I should be subtle, at first." Charles told her with a smirk. "'The Mystery Of Edwin Drood' still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth! 'The Mystery Of Edwin Drood And The Blue Elementals!'"

"Spoilers!" Rose laughed out causing both the Doctor and Charles to laugh.

"I can spread the word, tell the truth!" Charles cried.

"Good luck with it." The Doctor told him, holding out his hand for the man to take. "Nice to meet you, fantastic."

"Bye, then. And thanks" Rose said giving Charles and handshake before lightly kissing him on the cheek.

"Oh, my dear!" Charles muttered, blushing. The Doctor, who had been about to step into the TARDIS stopped and Rose could sense the glare he was now sending towards Charles. "How modern. Thank you. But I don't understand, in what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?"

"You'll see. In the shed." The Doctor growled, took Rose's hand and went to lead her into the TARDIS.

"Upon my soul, Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you." Charles said, stopping them. "But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this... Who are you?" Rose looked aver at the Doctor, silently letting him know that she would take his lead on this one.

"Just a friend." The Doctor told him. "Passing through."

"But you have such knowledge of future times." Charles told him. "I don't wish to impose on you but I must ask you... My books, Doctor, do they last?"

"Oh, yes." The Doctor told him with a wide grin.

"For how long?" Charles asked.

"Forever." The Doctor told him. Charles teared up in happiness. "Right." The Doctor said looking at Rose. "Shed. Come on, Rose." He unlocked the door once more and finally lead Rose into the TARDIS.

"What? In the box? Both of you?" Charles asked in confusion. Rose couldn't help poking her head out of the door with a large smile.

"It's a snog box." Rose stage whispered to Charles, knowing he would have absolutely no idea what she had meant by that.

"Rose!" The Doctor called to her, causing her to laugh as she pulled her head back inside the TARDIS and closed the door. She turned around and watched the Doctor slowly dance around the console. It was time to visit home.

"Right, I'm going to go to my room, take this dress off, and slip into some pajamas. Might even call my mum, bout time I did so." Rose told the Doctor as she pushed off the door and made to head down the corridor that held the room. However, the Doctor stepped in front of her.

"Rose-" He started but Rose held up her hand, stopping him.

"Just give me a few minutes to my self, an hour at most, and then I'll be ready to talk." Rose told him before walking around him. As she entered the corridor that led to the rooms, Rose ignored the feeling of the Doctor's stare on her back.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve-**

The Doctor sighed as he mentally berated himself again. How could have has said that to her? _'Get used to it. Or go home.'_ The Doctor slammed his head against the console, ignoring the TARDIS's angry hum. _Why_ had he told her that? He hadn't meant it. She had to have known that, right? He had just been so _frustrated_.

 _'You've flown so far. Further than anyone. Further than that you in your memories.'_ What had Gwyneth meant by that. He'd had his suspicions, had them since 'loop-de-loop mixed with timey-wimey stuff'. But it couldn't possible. _Shouldn't_ be possible.

He would not have allowed for it to happen. He knew, or at least he _thought_ he knew. But something _must_ have happened for him to have felt the need to send her back. But _why_? What _for_? Was it to save her? To save himself? What? He just couldn't figure it out. It didn't make sense!

He needed answers! And he needed them _now_.

The Doctor pushed off the console and quickly made his way towards his Rose's room. He hesitated, wondering if he should knock or not, before opening the door.

"Mum, I've told you, I don't know when exactly I'll be there, I just know that it will be soon." He heard his Rose's voice coming from her closet. There was a pause. "You never answered my question. Have you two stocked up on everything I've told you to stock up on?" Then a sigh. She knew he was there. "Mum, I've got to go." It was silent for a moment before he heard Rose's bare feet walking towards him. She had changed into a light pink and gray shirt and a pair of jeans the hugged her legs _just_ right. They looked at each other.

"Why are you here?" The Doctor demanded and Rose sighed before walked around him.

"I'm here to travel with you, to see the universe. Forever" Rose told him.

"That's not what I meant." The Doctor growled at her, turning to face her to see that she was sitting cross legged on the bed, a soft look in her eyes.

"But that's the answer you're getting. It tells you everything you need to know, and nothing more." Rose told him, her eyes flashing gold. He had seen them do that before, especially when pissed. The Doctor opened his mouth to demand she answer his question. "Do you trust me?"

"With my lives." The Doctor told her truthfully and without hesitation. His hearts jumped for joy when she smiled at him.

"Then trust that I know what I'm doing. Trust me to not put your lives, the TARDIS's life, or the universe in danger." Rose told him softly.

"And your life?" The Doctor asked. Rose sighed and looked away, deep in thought.

"The only thing that I can safely promise is to... _try_ to keep myself from dying." Rose told him slowly and the Doctor growled. His body moved before his mind fully registered. He pounced on her, pinning her to the bed.

"I won't allow you to die!" The Doctor growled at her, her eyes flashed at the challenge.

" _Allow_? You don't have a say in this!" Rose growled back at him. Her growling, he had begun to note, did not sound human, it sounded more beast like. Almost canine.

"The hell I don't!" The Doctor growled before he bent his head down and bit at the juncture between her neck and shoulder causing her to cry out. "You belong to _me_. You are _mine_." He told her and smirked when her smelt her arousal, after this conversation was finished he would go about showing her just how much she was his. "And since you are mine, you will listen to me when I say that whatever you are doing, should it end up taking your life, I _will_ put a stop to it." Rose's eyes flashed once more.

"Yes, I am yours." The Doctor growled happily at that. "But that also means _you_ are _mine_." Rose managed to roll them over so that she was pinning the Doctor to the bed. "And since you are mine, _you_ will listen to _me_ when I say that _nothing_ is going to stop me from doing this. Especially not _you_." Rose told him. The Doctor's mind began to race at that. So whatever she was doing here was dangerous to her life!

"Rose." The Doctor started with a growl.

"Do you trust me?" Rose asked him again.

"With my lives." He told her truthfully and without hesitation once more.

"Then trust in me to keep my promise." Rose told him before pecking him on the lips. The Doctor went to break her hold on him so the he could pull her down for a proper kiss, but he couldn't. Her grip on his wrists was surprisingly strong for a human.

"Rose." He whined out receiving a smirk from him before her face became stern, almost angry.

"Now that I have you here, let's talk." Rose told him, voice void of all emotion. And, oh, she was angry with him. "You hurt me today, Doctor, when you told me to go home. And I know you weren't talking about the TARDIS then either."

"I didn't mean it." He told her honestly and Rose hummed.

"I know you didn't mean it, Doctor. But just because you didn't mean it didn't mean it still didn't hurt." Rose told him, giving him a hard stare before she got off of him and the bed to walk back over to her closet. "But, that _did_ get me thinking." The Doctor's mind flashed back to the bit of overheard conversation with her mother and fear shot through him. She was going to leave! The Doctor shot to his feet just as she came back out of her closet with her small bag and her sneakers, the fear doubled. He opened his mouth to start begging her to stay, to beg her to give him one more chance. "Now, Doctor, I've decided that you're going to make it up to me by taking me home."

"Rose, no, please don't go! Don't do this! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I swear! I don't want you to leave!" The Doctor begged. He blinked when she began to giggle.

"Doctor, I'm not leaving. Had you let me finish, you would have learned that I was asking you to take me home to _visit_." Rose told him.

"Oh." The Doctor said.

"And your punishment for hurting me is to have a nice and proper sit down with my mum." Rose informed him.

 **~Replay~**

The second the TARDIS landed, Rose was walking out of it, hand in hand with the Doctor. "And you're sure it's been exactly one year since the Nestene Consciousness?" Rose asked looking around the alley way. The only visible difference that she could see was that it was day light instead of night (and there were three new graffiti tags on that wall to the left of the TARDIS). Though, a quick mental check with Bad Wolf and the TARDIS confirmed that it was exactly one year from the day of the Nestene Consciousness.

"Of course. I'm not _that_ much of a bad driver that I would miss this landing." The Doctor told her.

"Well, I mean, you did miss 1960... and Naples." Rose joked.

"Oi, you said that you didn't care about that!" The Doctor cried out playfully pulling Rose towards him and wrapped his arms around her waist as Rose wrapped her arms around his neck. He began to sway them lightly, causing her to laugh. "And shouldn't I be getting a kiss right about now. I mean I did landed us here in the right year, and even the right city."

"Wouldn't you rather have a nice, shiny metal?" Rose asked playfully. The Doctor looked as if he were thinking about it before shaking his head.

"Nah, I'll loose the metal, plus a kiss from you is more precious than any metal." The Doctor told her.

"Well, aren't you just a charmer." Rose said before lifting on her toes and brushed her lips against his.

"I try." He breathed onto her lips when she pulled back before he quickly moved one of his hands from around her waist to bury it into her hair and pull her in for another kiss. This one more more passionate with tongues battling and teeth nipping and mouths sucking. When Rose had to pull way from the kiss to breath, the Doctor whined before attaching himself to her neck, sucking and licking and nipping. And, dear God, if she didn't stop him they would never getting to her mothers (and maybe that was his plan).

"Right, not that this isn't fun, 'cause, you know, it is." Rose moaned out, her hips automatically thrusted into his with one particularly good nip. "But if we don't stop, we're never gonna make it to my mums."

"You'll not hear me complaining." She felt more than heard the Doctor murmur into her neck.

"Yeah, well, my mum will and you'll not want her to come storming down here to find us tangled around each other." She whispered into his ear and smirked at the needy groan and hip thrust she got in response. She allowed him to kiss and lick and nip and nuzzle into her neck for another minute before she set about reminding him of the reason he believed they were there for. "Not only that, but you have a punishment to complete." The Doctor groaned and rested his forehead on her shoulder.

"If I must." The Doctor whined causing her to laugh.

"Oh, you must." She told him as she took his hand and began to lead him towards her mother's flat. It didn't take long before they were walking through the flat door. "Mum, we're here!" Rose called out as the door shut.

"Rose!" Her mother cried seconds before the woman came bounding out of the kitchen. Jackie quickly pulled Rose into a hug. "Why didn't you tell me you would be coming back today! I would have put dinner on to cook!" It was only when she had pulled away that Rose noticed her mother finally taking note of the Doctor awkwardly standing behind Rose, clinging to her hand. "Who's this then? Is this that doctor fellow?"

"Hello." The Doctor said with a forced smile as he lifted up his free hand and waved his fingers at her mother.

"How old are you, then? 40? 45?" Jackie demanded pushing past Rose to get to the Doctor.

"Rose!" The Doctor cried out when their hands got disconnected as he was backed up against the door. Rose watched with wide eyes, just knowing what her mother was going to do. She had hoped that with giving her mother more warning and writing her a letter that explained that she had gone traveling with the Doctor that she would be sparing her Doctor this fate. But it would seem that she had been wrong.

"What, did you find her on the Internet?" Rose nearly laughed at the deer-in-the-headlights look on the Doctor's face. "Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"

"I am a doctor." The Doctor informed her mother.

"Prove it! Stitch this, mate!" Jackie cried before pulling her hand back in the patent Tyler Slap®, and, before Rose could even think about stopping her mother, slapped him so hard that the Doctor's head had been turned and his knees gave out so that all that was holding him up was the door.

"Mum!" Rose cried pushing past Jackie to get to the Doctor. "That was uncalled for!" She stood the Doctor back up on his feet and gently remove the hand that was holding the cheek her mother had slapped and winced. It was starting to bruise. Amazement flew through Rose at that. Her _human mother_ had _slapped_ an alien Time Lord so _hard_ he was starting to _bruise_!

"'Uncalled for'? 'Uncalled for'!" Her mother repeated back, her voice so high it was nearly a squeak. "He kidnapped you!"

"He's done no such thing, mum!" Rose said turning to glare at her mother, body standing protectively between her mother and her Doctor. "You got my letter, the one you claim to have read."

"A letter _he_ made you write no doubt!" Jackie screeched, if the neighbors weren't listening before, they were most definitely listening now.

"He's done no such thing! I wrote that letter! By! My! Self! No one _made_ me write it!" Rose growled.

"Of course you'd deny it with himself here!" Jackie growled. "You! Go on! Shoo! Get outta here! You'll not be forcing my daughter to do anything ever again! Get outta here before I call the cops!" Rose's body moved before she registered it, and the next thing Rose knew she was slapping her mother with the same patent Tyler Slap® causing the woman to stumble back in shock.

"Stop it mum! The Doctor isn't forcing me to do _anything_." Rose growled at her dangerously.

"It's just one lie after another with you!" Jackie yelled having gotten over her shock at being slapped. "He's making you sleep with him!"

"What the hell are you on about? Me and him haven't slept together!" Rose yelled barely keeping herself from adding 'yet' to the end of that sentence.

"Oh don't you lie to me, young lady! I can see that hickey he's put on your neck clear as day! Just as I saw the way he was holdin' your hand when the both of you waltzed in here!" Jackie yelled.

"Yes, mum! Me and the Doctor are together! But that's by _my_ choice! _I_ chose to be with him. _I_ chose to pursue him! I _love_ him!" Rose yelled.

"Rose." She heard the Doctor gasp out quietly behind him.

"You don't even _know_ him! He's just another Jimmy Stone! Some older man givin' you some attention, makin' you feel special, makin' you think he loves you! While all the while he's just usin' you! And once he's done with ya, he'll toss ya aside or, worse, put you in the hospital! I watched you do this with Jimmy Stone when you were 16 and I'll not see it happen again!" Jackie told her and Rose slapped her once again.

"Don't you _dare_ compare the Doctor to Jimmy." Rose growled low and dark, her eyes flashing in a dangerously. She felt Bad Wolf begin to rise in her, her power settling just beneath her skin, causing Rose's body to practically hum. "My Doctor is _nothing_ like that filth. My Doctor _loves_ me. He would do _anything_ for me. He'd rip the universe in two for me if he had to. And I would do the same for him." It was silent after her last statement. No one spoke in fear of what she would do, though she could tell they didn't realize that's what they were afraid of.

Rose closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She let go of Bad Wolf and allowed her to settle back into the depths of her mind. Once she had calmed herself enough, Rose opened her eye to give her mother a hard stare. "We'll be on the roof. Come get us once you've calmed down. Then, and _only_ then, we'll have that sit down you wanted." Rose informed her mother before turning, grabbing the Doctor's hand, and stormed out of the flat and towards the roof.

Once on the roof, Rose dropped the Doctor's hand to began pacing along the roof as he lent against the concrete half wall that ran along the edge of the roof. Her mind was racing. Her emotions were all in a whirl. She was hurt, angry, sad, annoyed, embarrassed, and frustrated all at the same time. How could her mother even think for one second that the Doctor was _anything_ like Jimmy! Rose growled and huffed and puffed at her mother.

"Rose." The Doctor called softly causing Rose to pause in her pacing and mental rant to look at him. He smiled softly at her and held out his hand. She walked the few paces towards him and took it before allowing him to pull her towards him. Rose sighed in happiness as nuzzled into his chest while he wrapped his arms around her and rested his unbruised cheek against the top of her head.

"I'm sorry." Rose whispered to him. "If I had known she was going to react like _that_ , I would have never made you come."

"It would have been worse if we had pushed this meeting back." The Doctor told her.

"I know it's just..." Rose sighed and tightened her hold on him. They sat there, wrapped in each other, for a long minute before Rose spoke again. "She used to not be like this. My mum. She used to be care free and happy (or at least a carefree and happy someone who has lost her soulmate can be), never worrying more than a mother should if I didn't come home that night, figuring I was with Shareen or Kesha or any of my other mates. But then I'd met Jimmy."

"You've mentioned that name before. And from the evidence, I can safely assume I'm not going to like this man." The Doctor told her causing her to let out a small chuckle.

"I met him in school when I was 15 going on 16. He was older by a couple of years. He was a bad boy, constantly getting into fights, constantly out all night partyin' and drinkin', didn't seem to give a fuck. And to young me, that was pretty damn hot. And then on my 16th birthday, he noticed me." Rose sighed. "Shareen had convinced me to sneak outta her flat and go to this party just a few streets down thatta way. Jimmy and his band was playin' there that night." She turned and pointed further down the road, towards the worser neighborhoods.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to." The Doctor told her.

"At the party, Jimmy took notice of me. We flirted. I gave him my number. A bad mistake, but not the worst I've made. We talked for a few weeks before he asked me on a date. Wasn't much of a date, now that I'm thinking back on it. Just sat in a dark theater before leavin' to have crappy food. Our first date beats it my a landslide." They chuckled at that before Rose's face fell.

"Didn't take too much longer after that for me to get infatuated with 'im. Older boy showering me with attention and complements and gifts, for a young and insecure girl that I had been, it was like heaven. He was the one, had ta be. He was obviously my soulmate, why else would he be payin' me so much attention. I wasn't beautiful, wasn't even pretty. I was a string-bean and awkward. My smile was too wide, my teeth too large. My hair was a mess. This was before I started dying it, see, started really taken care of it, even though my mum was a hairdresser. And yet, this gorgeous and older boy was payin' me attention." Rose told him with a shake of the head.

"We started dating. Six months later he was askin' me to move in with him. I thought I was gonna marry him. Thought we was gonna me happy. I dropped out of school and said yes. Worst mistake of my life. Mum was furious. She tried to convince me to wait. But I wasn't havin' it. Jimmy was the one." Rose sighed once more, fighting back her tears. "Not even a week after I moved in with him and he changed. He became possessive, and not in the good way, not like you. I wasn't allowed to do nothin'. I was to sit at home and wait for him. I had to have dinner on the stove cooking and ready to eat when he got home. Mind you, I never knew when he would be home, so that was always fun. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone that wasn't him. Any contact I had with any male that wasn't him (be it the delivery boy or one of his friends that he always brought round) had him accusin' me of being of bein' a whore, of spreadin' my legs for every guy that looked at me." A tear rolled down her cheek and the Doctor quickly wiped it away.

"You don't have to continue, if you don't want to, Rose." He told her softly.

"He began belittlin' me. Called me stupid. Reminded me that I didn't have my 'A' levels. I was too fat. I was too ugly. My hair was a mess. I was a bad lay. Nothin' I did was ever right." Rose took a deep breath and tightened her arms around the Doctor knowing he wasn't going to like this next part. "One night it became too much and I fought back. I yelled at him. I accused him of cheating, showed him all the evidence of it. And then he hit me." The Doctor growled and tightened his hold on her. She could feel his body begin to shake.

"He. What?" The Doctor demanded with a dark and dangerous growl.

"He hit me. Knocked me off my feet. But it didn't stop there. He would through things at me, sharp things. Slam my head into the wall or table or even a dresser. This went on for another month or so before he took it too far. I don't really remember much that night. I do know that he had come home drunk and angry. Dinner wasn't ready, wasn't even on the stove. I hadn't even been able drag myself from the bed where he had left me hours earlier that day after having forced himself on me." The Doctor sucked in a breath. Rose looked off to the side as she tried to remember that night. "There was screamin'. Lots of screamin'. Mainly from me. Blood, lots of it, and mine. The door bein' kicked open. A guy ran in yellin'. He had an American accent. More screamin' and yellin'. There was a scuffle between the man and Jimmy. And then silence. Before I fell unconscious, I remember the American man picking me up and promisin' that I was safe."

The silence that fell around them was thick as the Doctor took in everything that Rose had told him.

"I'll have to find this American man and thank him for saving your life." The Doctor said.

"Good luck with that. Didn't quite catch his name. He was gone by the time I awoke in the hospital three days later. The only one there with me was my mum." Rose muttered. The Doctor tightened his grip on her as he buried his head into her hair and breathed in her scent. She could practically hear him mentally telling himself that she was there with him, in his arms, she was _safe_ , and with him. Rose closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel and scent of him. And then she heard it. Her eyes snapped open. "D'you hear that?"

The Doctor and Rose turned to watch as the Slitheen's spaceship came flying at them with black smoke trailing after it. They ducked to keep from being hit. It swooped and nearly hit the bridge before rising and circling the city. Making sure everyone saw it. Before dive bombing at Big Ben, clipping it the side of it with it's wing, and landed in the Thames. In all of the excitement, Rose had nearly forgotten about the Slitheens!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen-**

The city was in absolute chaos as Rose and the Doctor ran, hand in hand, towards where the Slitheen's ship was parked. As they ran down the street, through parked cars and angry drivers honking and yelling, Rose let her mind race. How was she going to handle this? She knew that she and the Doctor needed to get to Downing Street and meet Harriet Jones. Knew they needed to establish a connection with the woman before the Doctor regenerated. Knew that they had to make sure Harriet Jones survived this to be able to become the Prime Minister. She _knew_ all that, but just _how_ was she going to get them to Downing Street. And without letting the Doctor know that she knew what was happening.

She had slipped up with Gwyneth. Had allowed the girl to see too much while reading her. Gave away too much to the Doctor. And now he suspected her. She hoped that his suspicions didn't draw the pinstripe Doctor to her. There was too much at stake. She couldn't allow him to stop her.

"It's blocked off." The Doctor said as they came to a sliding stop at the blockade.

"And we're still miles from the centre." Rose pointed out, her eyes scanning everything, noting all the Bad Wolf clues surrounding her. It amazed her how she had not been able to spot the clues until it had almost been too late the first time around. "They've gridlocked the city. The whole of London has been closed down."

"I know, I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!" The Doctor cried out excitedly as he squeezed her hand. His excitement rubbed off onto her, even though she knew what would be happening to them early tomorrow morning. "This is what I travel for, Rose, to see history happening right in front of us!"

"Well, come on, let's go and see it. Never mind the traffic. We've got ourselves a TARDIS." Rose told him with a smile knowing he would decline.

"Hmm, better not." The Doctor told her. "They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. And I don't wanna shove another one on top."

"Even if ours looks like a big, blue box?" Rose asked teasingly.

"You'd be surprised what people will notice in an emergency like this. There'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me, the TARDIS stays where she is." The Doctor informed her and Rose nodded.

"So, history's happening, and we're stuck here." Rose said.

"Yes, we are." The Doctor said brightly before he realized the situation they were in.

"We could do what everybody else does." Rose said gaining his attention. "We could watch it on TV." She nearly laughed at the insulted look that appeared on his face. "You're the one who wants to know what is going on, and you're the one that refuses to take the TARDIS to see what's going on." Rose told him and she turned them around and began lead the Doctor back the way they had come from. "And the only way to do both is to watch it on the telly."

 **~Replay~**

"So why's 'e got ta watch it here? Don't he have his own telly?" Jackie complained to Rose as they stood in the kitchen, both them with a fresh cup of tea in their hands, as the Doctor sat in the living room flipping between news stations.

"'Cause I said so. You want us to leave? 'Cause we will." Rose told her mother.

"Why d'you gotta go with him?" Jackie asked. "Can't you stay here while he watches the telly at his own place?"

"Because wherever he goes, I go." She told her mother. "And that is by choice, and my choice alone." She added when she saw her mother open her mouth to argue. "Now, shush, he's trying to concentrate." For once her mother actually listened as she leaned up against the counter, drinking her tea, and glaring at the Doctor.

 _"A state of national emergency has been declared."_ She heard announced on the telly and sighed. _"Tom Hitchingson is at the scene."_

 _"The police urge the public not to panic."_ Tom Hitchingson said and Rose rolled her eyes. Yeah, like that's not gonna happen. People are gonna be panicking and freaking out. And that is what the Slitheen are hoping for. _"Here's the helpline number on the screen right now, if you're worried about friends and family."_ Rose looked at the number, wondering if she could get her mother to call that number again. Memories of her first time around. Would Mickey come storming in accusing the Doctor of leaving her once he had gone off to check on the dead alien?

 _"The military are on the lookout for more spaceships."_ Rose blinked at the female voice with an American accent. The Doctor had changed the channel. _"Until then, all flights in North American airspace have been grounded."_

 _"The Army are sending diver into the wreck of the spaceship."_ Tom Hitchingson said. The Doctor had changed the channel once more. _"No one knows what they're going to find."_ Rose nearly jumped out of her skin when someone knocked on the door.

"Oh, that'll be Bev." Jackie cried, setting her cup down and flew out of the kitchen to allow Bev in.

"Oh, hello, sorry to disturb you, but is Rose Tyler there by any chance?" Rose heard a woman ask. This woman hadn't stopped by the last time. Confused, Rose sat her cup of tea on the counter and made her way out of the kitchen. Was this another glimpse at her possible future? Rose glanced at the Doctor who was focused on the telly.

"Rose, there's some woman here for you." Jackie called to her as Rose made her way towards the door and got a glimpse of the woman. The woman was older, almost around her mother's age, and had light, curly, brown hair that was pulled into a messy pony tail at the top of her head. Her eyes were a warm honey brown and lit up in, what seemed to be, both recognition and shock when she caught sight of Rose. The woman smiled lovingly at her.

"Hello, Sweety." The woman said. All at once a sensation flew through Rose. It was warm and soft. It felt like she was meeting an old friend that she hadn't seen in years. "Want to come take a short walk with me? We've got some catching up to do."

"Right, yes, sorry." Rose gasped out. "Mum, I'll be back. Don't argue or fight with the Doctor while I'm gone. Just leave him be. And, please, for the love of God, do not distract him." Rose ordered as she stepped out of the flat causing the woman to chuckle. Without a word between the two of them, they turned and began to walked towards the stairs of the complex. Every now and then Rose would catch the woman shooting her shocked looks. "Why d'you keep lookin' at me like that? You _have_ met before, right?"

"Of 'course I've meet you, known you my whole life." The woman told her with a smirk as if this was some kind of inside joke between them. "It's just you're so _young_." Rose blinked at that. Was she an old woman by the time she met this woman? "I mean, you _did_ try to warn me, told me that you had _just_ started traveling with the Doctor. But nothing could have prepared me for _this_."

" _I_ warned you? Did _I_ send you back?" Rose asked.

"Oh yes. Asked me to come back and give you something after saving my life. I thought I was done for, not even the Doctor could find a way to save me. Not that I would let him. Knocked him out and cuffed him to keep him from stopping me. I had accepted that I would die there. I was ready for it. Had given him this big epic speech about how both you and him had known how I was gonna die. About the last time I had seen him and future you." The woman teared up. "How he had allowed you to take me on a date to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang, and you cried." The woman was in her memories now. "You refused to tell me why. At the time, when I thought I was about to die, I figured it was because you knew I was about to die." The woman gave a wet chuckle, wiping her eyes, "Now, I know it's because I _told_ you that you had to cry that night." The woman shook her head. "And then, just before the clock hit zero, you come storming in and saved us all."

"I guess that means you're not supposed to die then." Rose told her, not knowing what to say.

"But you see, Rose, I was supposed to die that day. My death was _written_. It was a _fixed_ point in time. That was the first time the Doctor had met me. It was written that the first time the Doctor meets me would be my last days. Our time lines were backwards." The woman told her.

"Well then, obviously, whoever wrote that was wrong." Rose told her firmly. "'Cause, here you are. Alive. And apparently with something to give me?" Rose reminded causing the woman to chuckle.

"Rose Tyler, you are impossible. And I mean that in the nicest way. Only _you_ can look at a fixed moment in time and say 'Nah, not gonna happen' and the universe will bend to your will." The woman told her with a smirk before pulling out what appeared to be a small black tube form her pocket. "Right, here you are." The woman said handing the tube to her. "As instructed, by you, this only has enough charge left for one shot. _Don't_ waste it."

"What is it?" Rose asked taking the tube.

"It's a Sonic Wave Blaster. Sends a wave of sonic energy at whatever it's pointed at. Doesn't necessarily hurt, but it _will_ toss the target across the room." The woman told her with a smirk.

"How does it work." Rose asked.

"Well first things first, you'll need to plant your feet, like so." The woman said demonstration how Rose would need to plant her feet. "Because that thing has a nice kick to it, and if you're not careful it _will_ knock you off your feet. Then you'll need to hold it just like this," She showed Rose how to have her hand wrapped around it, "point this end," the woman pointed at the opened end of the tube, "at whatever you want to target, and squeeze. And remember, you only get _one_ shot, so make it count."

"One shot, right." Rose said with a nod as her mind raced. Would she need this for the Blitz with the gas masked people, or for the Dalek in Utah, or maybe even on the Game Station. There was a sound of an alarm going off and the woman pulled out a Vortex Manipulator from her pocket alerting Rose that they were bigger on the inside since there was no way that thing would fit in her pocket otherwise.

"Oh, look at the time." The woman muttered. "I've got to go and you've got to get back to the Doctor before he thinks you've been kidnapped." The woman shuttered. "I've seen how he reacts to your kidnapping as his future self (nearly destroyed the whole of time and space), and I'd hate to see how this one reacts."

"Will I see you again?" Rose asked.

"Of course you'll see me, you've still got to save me." The woman told her with a wink."

"That's not what I'm asking, will I ever see _this_ you again?" Rose asked and the woman thought about.

"Maybe, who knows. I've got a whole life ahead of me that I didn't know I was going to have." The woman told her seriously. And then, with a quickly press of a few buttons, the woman was gone in a flash of light.

 **~Replay~**

By the time night fell, Jackie had invited everyone that lived on the estates into the flat. Or at least it felt like it to Rose who had squeezed herself beside the Doctor in the chair in front of the telly. The noise had become distracting to even her, and knew that if _she_ was distracted, then she _knew_ that the Doctor was. As she sat pressed up to him, Rose could feel the Doctor shaking. She checked the clock, it was around this time that the Doctor had tried to sneak away the first time.

Rose uncurled herself and stood up with a stretch. "Just gonna run to the loo." Rose told him when he looked at her, hoping he would take this chance to leave. She was shocked, however, when she got back and he was still there, practically vibrating in the seat. Rose sighed and sat back in the chair. "What are you still doing here?" Rose asked him and received and almost scandalized look from him. "This is the longest I've ever seen you stay still. I'm surprised you haven't run, screaming, out that door." Rose told him softly with a light laugh.

"Rose, what are you saying?" The Doctor asked.

"Go." Rose whispered to him. "Get out of here and wander. Run. Pace. _Move_. I don't _care_. Just go get some fresh air. I'll still be here when you get back."

"You sure?" The Doctor asked, and she knew he was asking for permission to leave and go check on the dead 'alien'.

"I'm sure." Rose told him and nearly laughed when the Doctor shot out of the chair and all but ran out of the flat.

"And where is 'e going?" Jackie asked.

"Out to get some fresh air and stretch his legs." Rose told her and she shifted int the chair, throwing her legs over the arm.

"And you're not going after him? I thought that where ever 'e went, you went." Jackie snapped out.

"Thought I'd stay here and spend some time with you." Rose said then moved to get up. "But if you want me to leave, I'll leave."

"Sit back down." Jackie told her causing Rose to laugh as she shifted in the chair, once more, to get comfy. "D'you want more tea?"

"I'd love some more tea." Rose told her. Rose got comfy knowing that it would take a few minutes for Mickey to witness the Doctor leaving in the TARDIS before he come running over.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen-**

Rose had slumped in the chair, having grown quite bored of waiting for Mickey to get there (if he was even going to come) and had pulled out the Sonic Wave Blaster. She was careful to not wrap her hand fully around it, only holding it with her finger tips, to keep from accidentally squeezing it and wasting her one shot. Rose examined the blaster, turning it this way and that. It was quite beautiful. Black with golden swirls through out it, weaving in and out of each other to form intricate knots. And as Rose tilted and turned the blaster, the knots seemed to form together in different images depending on the angle.

"To the Martians!" She barely registered her mother saying.

In one angle the TARDIS seemed to appear, a slightly different angle seemed to form the circular lettering of the Doctor's language that she had grown used to seeing all over the TARDIS. If she tilted the blaster this way, there was the head of a wolf. A tilt in the opposite direction and... was that a roman soldier?

"The Martians!" The rest of the people in the flat cheered. As Rose blinked at the blaster in her hands. Why was there a picture of an eight year old girl? The long minute of silence that followed the cheer brought Rose's attention away from the blaster to see everyone looking at her.

"What?" Rose asked before she noticed Mickey standing in the doorway. Finally! He was here. "Hi. I was gonna come and see you." Rose told him, and this time she knew it was the truth. They needed Mickey if they were going to survive the night. Had he not gotten there before the Doctor had returned she would have left to go see him. And she would have found another way to get them into Downing Street, even if it meant calling the helpline herself.

"You're back." Mickey told her.

"Just visiting." Rose informed him.

"No you ain't." Mickey told her and she had to force herself not to snap at him.

"What d'you mean?" Rose asked.

"I waited for you Rose, twelve months. Waited for you and the Doctor to come back!" Rose got up from the chair and made her way into the kitchen, Mickey and Jackie following her as she had hoped. "You told me so yourself. Gone a year, you told me. So I waited!"

"Hold on! You never told me you'd met this doctor fellow! Why didn't you tell me?" Jackie demanded. Rose sighed as Mickey quickly began shutting the doors into the kitchen in a futile attempt to keep the other guests from listening in.

"Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh?" Mickey asked. "How could I tell her where you went?"

"Tell me now." Jackie demanded.

"I might as well, 'cause you're stuck here." Mickey told her with a smirk. "The Doctor's gone!" This was it, this was the what she needed to get both Mickey and her mother outside in time to see the TARDIS materializing. That would get her mother panicked enough to call the helpline. "Just now, that box thing just faded away. He's left you! Some boyfriend he turned out to be." Rose bolted from the kitchen and nearly smiled when she heard Mickey and her mother following her. She ran down the building's stairs, forcing herself to slow down when she heard Mickey and her mother struggling to keep up.

When they got to the alley where the TARDIS had been parked earlier that day, Rose came to a stop, barely winded. She made a show of looking around the empty alley way as Mickey and her mother panted and groaned behind her.

"See," Mickey panted out, amazing Rose at the fact that he _still_ somehow sounded victorious even out of breath, "he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh?" Rose turned to look at him as he finally began to catch his breath. "Now, you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it." Rose counted the seconds in her head. They had gotten here a little too soon, she needed to stall for time.

"He hasn't left me." Rose told Mickey evenly.

"What do you call this, Rose?" Mickey cried out, throwing his hands out to the empty space where the TARDIS had been.

"I know exactly where he is." Rose told him with a smirk.

"No you don't!" Mickey snapped at her and she tilted her head at him. "If you had known where he was, then you wouldn't have run out here like the hounds of hell were after you!"

"I've been thinking about telling mum everything, I just needed away to get her to be able to believe everything I was telling her. And when you told me that the TARDIS had moved, yes it had shocked me a little bit before I realized just where the Doctor went, and then I figured that this would be the best way to get her to believe." Rose easily lied.

"What are you two idiots going on about?" Jackie asked, having finally caught her breath. "What's going on? What's this doctor fellow done now?" Mickey began to laugh mockingly.

"He's vamoosed!" Mickey told her mother.

"Don't listen to Mickey, mum, the Doctor has only just gone check on something and then he'll be right back." Rose explained.

"Right. Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart." Mickey told her harshly. Seconds later the sound of the TARDIS materializing began to bounce off the walls of the alley as the TARDIS herself began to blink into existence.

"See." Rose told him once she had fully materialized.

"How'd you do that, then?" Jackie asked. Rose smiled at her before walked over to the door and pushed on it, happy when it opened.

"I know you told me just to get some fresh air and stretch my legs, but I went and had a look." The Doctor started to explain as Rose quickly made her way up the ramp and to him.

"Do you trust me?" She asked him causing him snap his mouth shut, cutting off the remainder of his explanation, and look at her. Rose saw, from the look in his eyes, that he was starting to understand that when asked him that then she was about to do something that she knew he wouldn't like but was for the sake of either keeping him, the TARDIS, or the universe safe.

"With my lives." He told her.

"Good, 'cause my mum's here." Rose told him as Mickey and Jackie stepped into the TARDIS. He spun around to stare at a pissed off Mickey and a scared Jackie.

"Oh, that's just what I need." The Doctor growled. "Don't you dare make this place domestic!" Rose smirked at him, fighting off the urge to remind him that they shared the same bed.

"You ruined my life, Doctor! Rose left me because of you!" Mickey yelled.

"See what I mean? Domestic!" The Doctor growled and Rose couldn't help laughing as the Doctor wrapped is arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Here he was whining about this place going domestic as he began to get possessive.

"I bet you don't even remember my name!" Mickey yelled out glaring at the Doctor, spit flying from his mouth in his anger, storming up the ramp to them. The Doctor shifted so the Rose was partially behind him and squared up, ready to fight Mickey.

"Ricky." The Doctor said with a smirk.

"It's Mickey!" Mickey growled out.

"No, it's Ricky." The Doctor growled back.

"I think I know my own name." Mickey told the Doctor.

"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?" The Doctor taunted. It was at that point that Jackie could no longer take being in the TARDIS and bolted, Rose shifted to be able to watch her leave with a satisfied smile. Her mother would run home and call the helpline, giving her and the Doctor a one way ticket to Downing Street.

"Right, so, that was a real spaceship." Rose said, reminding the Doctor about the crisis that was going on. The Doctor stopped glaring at Mickey and spun around to the console and began to type a way at a screen.

"Yes, right. As I was saying. The whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben? Come on." The Doctor said.

"Okay, real spaceship, fake landing. So, what is it, then, what is their plan? They're not invading, are they?" Rose asked even though she knew the answer.

"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey said from behind them.

"Good point!" The Doctor told him, looking as if saying those words hurt him to say. "So, what're they up to?" The Doctor focused back on the screen, typing a few things into the console and growled when an error sign appeared. He typed something else in only to have the same thing happen. "Oh come on!" He growled and pressed another set of keys, the screen beeped angrily at him and flashed an even larger error sign. Rose could tell that the TARDIS was trying to tell the Doctor that no matter how many different ways he tried to type him his command that she could not do it.

"Fine, we'll do it the hard way!" The Doctor growled out before kneeling down and removed a piece of the floor from underneath the console and slid into the opening, pulling at his screwdriver and sliding underneath the rotor. Within seconds the sound of the screwdriver going off sounded.

The TARDIS hummed in annoyance and Rose reached over and gently pet the console. "I know, but you know how he gets when he's like this." Rose told her softly and bit back a laugh when the TARDIS sent a picture of herself rolling her eyes and knew that the TARDIS had just rolled her eyes.

"So, what you doing down there?" Mickey asked the Doctor after a few minutes when the sound of the screwdriver stopped.

"Ricky." The Doctor said around his screwdriver that he had apparently placed in his mouth.

"Mickey." Mickey corrected him in annoyance. Rose watched the Doctor stop messing with the wire in his hand to take the screwdriver from his mouth, shifting to be able to glare at Mickey as he did so.

"Ricky." The Doctor growled out. "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?"

 _Not like he even knows what he's doing half the time either. He just connected the gravity controls to the hot water faucet in the bathroom of the third bedroom in the fifth corridor off the sixth hallway under the flight of stairs behind the fourth kitchen, next to the second swimming pool._ The TARDIS told her and Rose had to slap her hand over her mouth before she burst out laughing.

"I suppose not..." Mickey said slowly.

 _Not that anyone even uses that bathroom anymore, so it should be fine. Not sure why I even still have that bathroom._ The TARDIS informed her.

"Well, shut it, then." The Doctor growled. Mickey glared at the Doctor before turning and walking over to Rose, who had to quickly wipe the amused smile from her face before he thought she was laughing at him and the interaction between him and the Doctor.

"Some _friend_ you've got." Mickey said, stressing the word 'friend', gaining a warning growl from the Doctor.

" _Boy_ friend." Rose corrected him. "And he's just winding you up." Mickey glared off to the side. Rose sighed and placed a gentle hand on his arm, getting his attention back on her. "I do still care for you." Rose told Mickey gaining a victorious smirk from Mickey and a dark and dangerous warning growl from the Doctor. Rose mentally asked the TARDIS to shock the Doctor and the response was immediate with the Doctor hissing out a curse. "I mean it, you're my best friend. We grew up together. Of course I care for you, just not in the same way you care for me." Mickey's smirk dropped. "Like I told you, I love you, just not in the same way you love me."

"You're not staying, are you?" Mickey asked looking and sounding like he was about to cry.

"Never was. I told you, we were only visiting." Rose told him softly before the sound of electricity crackling caught her attention.

"Finally got it! Ha-ha!" The Doctor cried.

 _And it only cost us three spare bedrooms and a stable, the only stable we had._ The TARDIS informed her as Rose rushed over to the screen. Rose bit back a smirk, looks like the Doctor wouldn't be allowed to keep Arthur than. Her mind flashed back to the beautiful white horse that the Doctor would find on that spaceship. Her smirk disappeared as she remembered Reinette and how the Doctor had snogged her and then bragged about it. She would not let the french whore touch her Doctor this time round.

"Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours," the Doctor explained as he climbed out from under the rotor, "so it'll follow the flight of that spaceship. Here we go." He said before hitting the screen once more. "Come on!" He growled at it before it beeped at him finally doing what he wanted.

"That's the spaceship on it's way to Earth. See?" He pointed to a to a white dot on the blue screen as it hit a large lighter blue ball. "Except... hold on." The Doctor typed in a few commands and a second later the white dot was leaving the blue ball. "See? The spaceship did a slingshot round the Earth before it landed." Rose watched the screen as the white dot did exactly as the Doctor explained.

"So that means that they came from Earth in the first place." Rose said.

"Right! It went up and came back down." The Doctor agreed. "Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while. Question is, what've they been doing?" The Doctor quickly typed in a command and the screen changed to the news, but apparently not the news station the Doctor wanted as he began to quickly scan through his channels.

"How many channels you get?" Mickey asked and Rose couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes, he was focusing on the wrong thing.

"All the basic packages." The Doctor told him distractedly as he finally found the news station he wanted. He stood back to watch the channel, his arm automatically reaching out to wrap around Rose's waist to pull her towards him.

"You get sports channels?" Mickey asked, pushing his way in between the two of them.

"Yes, I get the football." The Doctor growled at him as he pushed Mickey away from them so hard that the poor boy stumbled down the ramp, barely catching himself into to stop from hitting the door. "Hold on. I know that lot." The Doctor said pulling Rose so that she was in front of him, her back pressed against his chest, his chin resting on top of her head.

 _"... but it's looking likely that the government's bringing in alien specialist, those people who've devoted their lives to study outer space."_ The female reporter stated as the screen show a group of military men and women.

"UNIT! United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people." The Doctor said with a firm nod of his head.

"How do you know them?" Rose asked, the Doctor had never really gone into detail of how he knew UNIT, and how he had worked with them.

"'Cause he's worked for them." Mickey told her. Rose looked over at Mickey, causing the Doctor's arms to tighten around her, to see that he was glaring at the Doctor. "Oh, yeah. Don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you!" Mickey growled before turning his attention to her. "You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name. Followed by a list of the dead." Rose rolled her eyes. She knew very well that while trying to save the world there were always those people that you _couldn't_ save. Mr. Sneed popped into her head.

"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky." The Doctor growled out. Already tired of the argument that was about to happen, Rose quickly intervened.

"If you know then, why don't you go and help?" Rose asked, already knowing the answer as the Doctor turned off the screen.

"They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days." The Doctor informed her. Translation: I've regenerated and survived through a war, I'm not the same man anymore. "Besides, the world's on a knife edge. There's aliens out there, and fake aliens. And I wanna keep _this_ alien," He pointed to himself as he removed himself from behind Rose, "out of the mix. I'm going undercover." Rose watched as the Doctor sheepishly looked around the console. "And, uh, better keep the TARDIS out of sight." He looked over at Mickey. "Rick! You've got a car. You can do some driving." The Doctor said as he began to lead them out of the TARDIS.

"Where to?" Mickey asked.

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that ship." The Doctor said stepping out of the TARDIS. The second they left the TARDIS, a helicopter spotlight was shone over them, momentarily blinding her. Had that light always been that bright?

"Do not move! Step away from the box! Raise your hands above your head!" A man shouted at them over a megaphone as they were quickly surrounded by military and police alike. Her mother had done her job and called into the helpline. Mickey took off running, a few military men following him.

"Rose!" She heard her mother yelling over the commotion and looked over to her to see her being held back by a group of military men. "Rose! Rose!" The scene was even more chaotic than she had remembered. Rose quickly reached over and took hold of the Doctor's hands.

"Raise your hands above you heads! You are under arrest!" The man with the megaphone yelled. They raised their hands, hands still clasped.

"Take me to your leader!" The Doctor called out jokingly.

"That's my daughter!" The faintly heard her mother cry.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen-**

The ride to Downing Street wasn't as nerve wracking as the first time where she had no idea what was going on and was just trying to look braver than she had felt at the time. Oh, the ride was still nerve wrack, just not as much. _This_ time Rose at least knew what to expect, and that in itself was a whole new bundle of nerves as her mind race to formulate a plan of action.

As she did this, Rose also allowed herself an easy banter with the Doctor. Bantering with the Doctor in nervous situations had always calmed her. A sort of normal in a raging storm of not normal.

Rose had barely finalized the start of a plan when they pulled up to 10 Downing Street. The bright flashes of cameras and the yelling of reporters were so loud and bright that it nearly caused Rose to stumble as the Doctor helped her out of the car before her eyes and ears got used to the brightness and the noise. Rose laughed at the Doctor as he waved enthusiastically at the reporters, gaining a few confused waves back.

"Here we go." Rose muttered as she let the Doctor lead her into 10 Downing Street. She and the Doctor were led into a large and crowded room and told to wait there while the secretary left to go get the Doctor's ID card. Rose quickly began scanning the room, looking for Harriet Jones. Rose's eyes locked onto the scared and nervous woman the second she appeared in the doorway.

"Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North." Harriet told the guard standing in the doorway, showing him her badge. He glanced at it before nodding her entrance. Rose watched the woman nervously make a circuit around the perimeter of the room, scared and nervous eyes desperately scanning the crowed as inconspicuous as she should. Rose knew she was looking for the Doctor, yet had no idea what he looked like. Harriet's eyes locked with Rose's.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene?" The secretary said coming back into the room, cutting through the quiet yet noisy chattering in the room. "Quick as we can please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times." He stated, holding up the Doctor's ID card before making his way towards them, as the Doctor began to lead Rose out of the room, as he followed everyone else.

"Here's your ID card." The secretary said holding out the ID card. And, remembering how the Doctor had told her about what that thing had done, Rose snatched the card out of the secretary's hand, shocking him. Rose then turned and made a show of attaching the ID card onto the Doctor's leather coat. She was hoping that the leather would take most of the damage. If only she could have some how convinced him to wear and rubber jacket.

"I, um, I'm sorry, but your companion doesn't have clearance." The secretary stated once he found his voice again as Rose lovingly smoothed down the collar of his coat.

"I don't go anywhere without her." The Doctor growled at the man, wrapping his arm around her waist and held her to him protectively.

" _You're_ the Code Nine, not her." The secretary told him. "I'm sorry, Doctor." Harriet Jones stepped up beside the secretary, her eyes hopeful. "It's uh, Doctor, isn't it? She'll have to stay out here."

"If you want me to go into that room, then Rose will have to be by my side." The Doctor growled out dangerously, his eyes flashing in warning.

"Look, even _I_ don't have clearance to go in there. I _can't_ let her in, and that's a fact." The secretary explained and Rose knew that she had to do something before the Doctor lashed out.

"Do you trust me?" She whispered to him gaining his attention just as Harriet gathered up the courage to speak to the Doctor.

"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" She asked, but all of the Doctor's attention was focused on Rose.

"With my lives." He whispered back.

"Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?" The secretary hissed at Harriet.

"Then trust me when I tell you that I'm needed out here. You go in there and do your thing. I'll be out here waiting." Rose whispered to him before lifting on her toes to kiss him on the lips. "Just, please don't keep me waiting too long, yeah?" Rose joked lightly.

"I just need a word, in private!" Harriet told the secretary.

"All right." The Doctor said before he forced himself to leave her behind.

"You haven't got clearance. Now leave it!" The secretary hissed at Harriet before turning his attention to Rose. "I'm gonna have to leave you with security." He told her. Rose smiled and nodded at him, knowing that Harriet would step in and take this chance to speak with her. They had only gotten three steps away with Harriet called out.

"It's all right." The woman said with a very impressive forced smile. "I'll look after her. Let me be of some use." Rose smiled kindly at her as Harriet motioned for Rose to walk with her. "Walk with me." Rose nodded and the two of them began to walk out of the room, taking a left instead of a right. "Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North." Harriet introduced herself showing Rose her badge.

"Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth. Pleasure meeting you." Rose told her holding out her hand for Harriet to shake. Harriet quickly shook her hand before she focused on leading Rose slowly and a casually as she could through the hall.

"This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right?" Harriet asked as her mask began to crumble, Rose pulled them to a stop just next to the staircase. "He knows about aliens?"

"Knows just about everything on aliens." Rose told her softly as a tear rolled down Harriet's cheek. Rose gently wiped the tear away and Harriet's damn broke and she began to cry. Rose pulled the poor woman into a hug and let her cry on her shoulder. "Shh, it's okay. I know it's scary, but whatever you've seen, you can tell me, I'll believe you." Harriet began to cry harder, almost in relief. "That's it, let it out."

"I-I don't know if I can explain it." Harriet told her as she began to calm down. "I think it's better if I show you."

"All right, lead the way." Rose told her before following Harriet up the stairs.

"They killed him. I watched them do it. I was so scared. I didn't know what to do." Harriet informed her as they entered the Cabinet Room. Harriet rushed over to the closet and pulled out the skin suit. "They turned the body into a suit, a disguise for the thing inside!" Harriet told her before beginning to cry again.

"It's all right, Harriet, you're safe now. Me and the Doctor are here. We won't let anything happen to you." Rose told her softly as she rubbed the woman's back. "It's defiantly alien." Rose informed the woman once she had calmed down again before beginning to check the room, remembering that the body of the Prime Minister was hidden somewhere in the room. But for the life of her, she couldn't quite remember where. "Once the Doctor finds us, we'll be able to figure out who they are and how to stop them." She explained as she began to open the cupboards along the far wall. "Oh!" She cried out in shock when the body of the Prime Minister fell onto her.

"Oh, my God. Is that..." Harriet cried out as she ran over as Rose automatically flung the body off of her and onto the ground. Once the body was off of her, Rose immediately felt guilty. That had been the Prime Minister and, even if he was dead ( _especially_ since he was dead), he did not deserve to be shoved off her like some drunk date that didn't understand the word 'No'.

"Harriet, for God's sake! This had gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander..." The secretary hissed at them, catching them, before taking note of the body on the ground in between them. "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister."

"Oh!" Blon Fel Fotch Passemeer-Day Slitheen, hiding in the skin suit of Margaret Blaine, called out from the doorway, trapping them in the Cabinet Room. "Has someone been naughty?" She asked with a smirk as she closed the door to the Cabinet Room. Rose's hand slid into her pocket and fingered the blaster hidden in it. She knew she wasn't going to need it, but it still sent a wave of comfort through her.

"But that's not possible." The secretary said. "He left this afternoon." Rose never took her eyes off of Blon as she made her way farther into the room. "The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!"

"And who told you that?" Blon asked with a dangerous smirk, stepping closer to the secretary. Rose quickly reached down and took Harriet's hand, getting ready to run. They wouldn't have much time between when the Doctor shoved the electrocuted ID card into the compression field to when the Slitheens removed it. Rose knew that they were going to have to lure Blon out of the Cabinet Room so that by the time they got back there, it would be Slitheen free and safe to hide in.

Rose glanced from Blon towards the secretary and wondered if she would be able to save him. She wanted to reach out and pull him towards her and Harriet, but she was just slightly out of reach. Rose _knew_ she could step forward and grab him, but she knew that would draw Blon's attention to her and Harriet. And, sadly, right now, getting Harriet out of there safe and sound was her main priority. She _could not_ do anything that could potentially put Harriet in anymore danger than she was now. Guilt flew through Rose as she realized that she was practically sacrificing this man's life to keep Harriet safe.

For a brief moment, Rose allowed her self to wonder if the Doctor was in this same position, would he find a way to save them both?

"Me!" Blon told the secretary with a giggle. Blon smirked proudly at all of them before slowly raising her hand to her forehead, pulled back her bangs to show the zipper to the skin suit, and then began to undress, bathing the room in a bright, electric blue light. Rose tightened her grip on Harriet's hand, their window was almost there. Rose flinched when Blon attacked the secretary, killing him. Blon turned her attention to Rose and Harriet and took a step towards them before electricity surged through her as she screamed.

Rose didn't waste a second and pulled Harriet around Blon and out of the Cabinet. They had run down three corridors before Harriet pulled Rose to a stop. "No, wait!" She cried as Rose turned to look at her. "They're still in there, the Emergency Protocols, we _need_ them." Harriet told her. And, before Rose could inform her that they would be going back to the Cabinet Room after meeting up with the Doctor, Harriet turned and ran back towards the Cabinet Room. Rose growled in annoyance before she ran after Harriet.

Harriet slid to a stop with a scream as Blon crashed into the hallway. Rose silently cursed and grabbed Harriet's hand once more, and pulled her away from Blon and back in the direction that they _had_ been running just seconds before. Blon roared angrily as she chased them down hallways and through rooms as Rose kept her and Harriet _just_ out of reach, taunting Blon.

Knowing that it was getting close to the time for the Doctor to find them, Rose quickly pulled Harriet down a hallway that contained the lift. And, Rose tired to stop, she really did, but with her momentum and how slippery those wooden floors were she couldn't stop herself from slamming into the locked door at the end of the hallway. She sent a out a silent curse as the lift bell rang, alerting everyone that the lift had arrived, knowing that was going to leave a nice, painful bruise. Blon screeched at the person on the lift (the Doctor her mind reminded her).

"Hello." The Doctor said as Rose pulled Harriet into a room just off to the side of the locked door.

"Hide!" Rose ordered Harriet once inside the room. Rose ran towards the curtains, completely ignoring the wooden bar behind one of the two couches in the room that she had hidden behind at the beginning the last time. Now, they just needed to play the hurry up and wait game until the Doctor could get back to them. Rose took a few deep breaths as she willed her body to calm down as she heard Blon enter the room.

"Ooh, such fun." Blon taunted. "Little human children, where are you? Sweet little human kins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips." Rose began to count the minutes until she knew that the Doctor would be there. The door opened again. "My brothers." Blon greeted.

"Happy hunting?" Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen asked.

"It's wonderful." Blon told him with a laugh. "The more you prolong it, the more they stink."

"Sweet and fear!" A member of the Slitheen family that she hadn't caught the name of last time said.

"I can smell an old girl." Jocrassa stated. "Stale perfume and brittle bones."

"And a ripe youngster, all hormones and adrenaline." Blon said, and Rose screamed when she was suddenly pulled from the curtains by Blon's claws around her neck. This hadn't happened last time! Blon hadn't reached for her until the _end_ of her speech. Rose gripped the claws and began to try and pry them from around her neck. "Fresh enough to bend before she snaps."

"No!" Harriet cried out, jumping from her hiding place behind a screen. "Take me first, take me!" Knowing that Harriet was in serious danger of dying, Rose called upon Bad Wolf for help. Bad Wolf brought their legs up so that they could easily kick the compressor around Blon's neck. Blon screamed in pain and let go of Rose, and had Bad Wolf not be fast enough at dropping their legs back down, they would have fallen on their arse. Bad Wolf quickly ran over to stand protectively in front of Harriet just as the door flew open and the Doctor ran in with a fire extinguisher and sprayed the two Slitheen's closest to him.

"Out! With me!" The Doctor ordered with a growl. Rose took Harriet by the hand and quickly led her over to the Doctor. "Who the hell are you?" The Doctor demanded glaring at Harriet, obviously blaming her for the situation Rose was in.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." Harriet introduced.

"She saved me." Rose told him in a whisper, needing him to trust her.

"Nice to meet you, then." The Doctor said.

"Likewise." Harriet replied as the Doctor sprayed the two Slitheens in front of them as Blon finally got back to her feet, after having stumbled and fallen in pain.

"Time to run." Rose announced, taking both Harriet by the hand and ran out the door. The Doctor threw the fire extinguisher at the Slitheens before catching up to them, grabbing Rose's free hand.

"We need to get to the Cabinet Room!" The Doctor told them.

"The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens." Harriet informed him.

"Harriet Jones, I like you." The Doctor told her.

"I think I like you, too." Harriet told him as Rose heard the Slitheens begin to follow them. It didn't take them long to reach the locked side door of the Cabinet Room. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and quickly unlocked it before running into the room. Rose screamed in fear as the Doctor had to suddenly duck a claw being swiped at him, falling to the ground in the process, just before he got to the switch that would safely seal them in. Without thought, Rose dropped Harriet's hand and pulled out the blaster. She quickly planted her feet, pointed the blaster at the Slitheen that had begun to raise its claw to swing at the Doctor, and squeezed.

Rose felt, more than saw, the wave fly from the blaster causing her to stumble back just a bit. Within seconds of her squeezing the blaster the Slitheen that had been standing over the Doctor flew back, hitting the other two Slitheens behind it, and flew out the door of the Cabinet Room. They hit the wall across from them in the room outside the Cabinet Room. In the disoriented moments of the Slitheen de-tangling themselves from each other and standing up, Rose jumped over the shocked and stunned body of the Doctor and stood in the main doorway of the Cabinet Room, blaster pointed at the Slitheens. They didn't need to know that her blaster was now out of juice. That that one blast had been her only shot.

"Right, hold it right there! One more move and I'll blast you with my Sonic Blaster!" Rose growled at them, glaring at them. She panted as the adrenaline rushed through her veins as she silently prayed that her bluff would give the Doctor the time to ask his questions. "Right, Doctor, you've got questions for them, ask away." Rose told him as she felt the Doctor come up behind her.

"Who exactly are the Slitheen?" The Doctor demanded.

"They're aliens." Harriet told him.

"Yes, I got that, thanks." The Doctor snapped at her.

"Who are you, if not human?" Jocrassa asked looking at the Doctor over her shoulder.

"Who's not human?" Harriet asked in confusion.

"He's not human." Rose told her, motioning with her head at the Doctor knowing that she needed to know that information, her eyes never leaving the Slitheens in front of her.

"He's not human?" Harriet asked her.

"Could I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor snapped out.

"Sorry." Harriet whispered.

"So, what's the plan?" The Doctor asked.

"But he's got a Northern accent." Harriet commented causing Rose to chuckle.

"'Lot's of planets have a North'." Rose quoted the Doctor.

"I said hush!" The Doctor growled out. "You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for? Invasion?"

"Why would we invade this godforsaken rock?" Jocrassa asked with a sneer.

"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" The Doctor demanded.

"'The Slitheen race'?" Jocrassa asked with a slight laugh.

"Slitheen is not our race." The unnamed Slitheen told them.

"Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen at your service." Jocrassa introduced with a smirk.

"So you're family?" The Doctor asked.

"A family business." The unnamed Slitheen told him proudly.

"Then you're out to make a profit." The Doctor realized. "How can you do that on a godforsaken rock?" There was silence as the unnamed Slitheen looked at her blaster with a questioning look. Looks like they were out of time.

"History lesson!" Rose suddenly cried out when she saw the Slitheen move to attack, he paused. "Fascinating history, Downing Street." She began quoting the Doctor from her first time. "2,000 years ago this was marshland. 1730, it was occupied by a Mr. Chicken. I've heard he was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest wall in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson!" The Slitheen looked her in the eye before launching himself with a snarl, Rose quickly reached over and flipped the switch causing the three inch sheet of metal to slide down and seal them in. There was a loud 'thud' as the Slitheen hit the metal just seconds after it came down. Rose breathed a sigh of relief before turning around to look at a shock Doctor and Harriet. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining ever single wall. They'll never get in."

"And how do we get out?" Harriet asked nervously.

"We don't." Rose told her. Now, all they had to do was wait until Mickey was able to message her, by that point the Slitheen would have tried to block communications coming in and out of this room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen-**

Rose sat on the conference table, mobile in her hand. She knew it would take Mickey sometime to actually message her. But her mind flew over the small changes that had happened here. Blon grabbing her around the neck during the middle of her speech, the Slitheen already in the Cabinet Room when they got there. If it had changed this much for her, how much had it changed for them? Had Mickey gotten to her mother in time to save her? Had they been able to escape? Rose shook her head and forced those thoughts from her mind. They were safe. They _had_ to be.

She hopped off the table when she saw the Doctor walk over to the dead secretary. "What was his name?" The Doctor asked as he looped his arms under the secretary's arm pits as Rose grabbed his legs. Together they picked the secretary up and carried him to the closet.

"Who?" Harriet asked distractedly, as she searched through the Emergency Protocols.

"This one. The, uh, secretary, or whatever he was called." The Doctor said as they sat him down on the ground. Harriet stood up from the conference table and walked over to look at the man.

"I don't know." Harriet told them sounding remorseful. "I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee." She turned with a regretful sigh and made her way back to the table and the Emergency Protocols. "I never asked him his name."

"Sorry." The Doctor whispered to the secretary before they quickly set to work on moving the Prime Minister's body into the closet next to the Secretary. "Right, what have we got?" The Doctor asked once all the bodies had been moved, pulling his screwdriver as he made his way over to the sealed window. "Any terminals, anything?"

"Nope, this place is antique." Rose informed him as she sat back down on the conference table, watching as he began to scan the window sill around the metal, looking for a way out. Rose sighed, she was going to have to ask the right questions to get him to figure out the Slitheen's plan on his own. It would also distract her from her worry about her mother and Mickey. "Right, so, what I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?" Rose asked wanting to keep her first question simple before working up to the more leading questions. The Doctor glanced over at her as he moved to the next window, she shifted so that she could sit cross-legged on the table.

"He's too slim." The Doctor informed her, his tone tense, before going back to his scanning. "They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans."

"The Slitheen are about eight feet. How do they squeeze inside?" Rose asked turning her body to be able to keep the Doctor in her sights as he moved to the last window.

"That's the device around their necks, compression field, literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange." The Doctor explained.

"Wish I had a compression field, I could fit a size smaller." Rose joked with a small smile.

"Excuse me," Harriet snapped at her causing Rose and the Doctor to look at her, "people are dead! This is not the time for making jokes. And, also, I'd appreciate it if you removed your behind from on top of this table!" Rose was reminded of her mother and quickly slid off the table, using her shirt to wipe off the place where she had been sitting.

"Sorry." Rose told her. "You get used to being in situations like this when you're with him." Rose explained pointing at the Doctor before making her way over to him.

"Well, that's a strange relationship." Harriet Jones commented as the Doctor quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. He buried his nose into her hair and took a deep breath, his body instantly relaxing.

"Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones." The Doctor said once he had calmed enough as his mind race to figure out why that name sounded so familiar to him. "You're not famous for anything, are you?" Harriet laughed at that.

"Oh! Hardly!" Harriet told him.

"Rings a bell. Harriet Jones..." The Doctor muttered as he rested his chin on top of her head, his fingers dancing a rhythm only known to him on Rose's hip bone.

"Lifelong backbencher, I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now." Harriet growled out impressively as she tossed the papers of the Emergency Protocols back into the briefcase that held them with an annoyed sigh. "The Protocols are redundant! They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs." Right, it was time for her to make mention of Nukes.

"Don't the Protocols have defense codes for Nuclear bombs or something?" Rose asked and received a shocked look from Harriet.

"You're a very violent young woman." Harriet told her causing Rose to roll her eyes.

"What, I'm not saying we nuke the place, I'm just asking to make sure that the Slitheens don't have the codes." Rose told her.

"Not likely, there's nothing like that in here." Harriet told her. "Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations."

"Say that again." The Doctor ordered, releasing Rose to shoot over towards Harriet.

"What about the codes?" Harriet asked in confusion and slight fear.

"Anything, all of it." The Doctor demanded.

"Um, well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the UN." Harriet told him. Rose watched the Doctor's face closely, noticing that he was starting to piece the Slitheen's plan together. "I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN." Rose had to stop herself from informing Harriet that that was what was keeping them safe at the moment. "Is it important?"

"Everything's important." The Doctor growled out.

"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted." Harriet said before giving a small, surprised chuckle. "Listen to me, I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal."

"Well, they're just one family, so it can't be an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World." The Doctor said walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist before situating himself behind her, with his chest pressed to her back. "They're out to make money. That means they want to use something, something here on Earth, some kind of asset."

"Like what? Gold? Oil? Water?" Harriet listed. Nukes, Rose added silently.

"You're very good at this." The Doctor told her causing Harriet to beam at him proudly.

"Harriet Jones, why do I know that name?" The Doctor asked before Rose's mobile went off causing relief to flash through her.

"Oh, that's me." Rose cried out as she quickly dug her mobile back out of her pocket.

"But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Harriet asked her.

"He zapped it. Super phone." Rose explained as she pulled up her message from Mickey. The second the Doctor had seen, from over her shoulder, that Mickey had sent her a message a dark growl began to rumble deep in his chest.

"Then we can phone for help!" Harriet cried. "You must have contacts!"

"Dead downstairs, yeah." The Doctor growled. "What the hell does he want? Doesn't he know that we're in a crisis here?"

"Oh hush." Rose told him, lightly slapping his arm as the image Mickey had sent her finally loaded. "Looks like he's in a crisis as well." There was a tense silence between them as the Doctor glared at the image of an electrified Slitheen.

"Call him." The Doctor bit out. Rose quickly pulled up Mickey's contact, but before she hit the call button she quickly spun on the balls of her feet so that she was facing the Doctor.

"Do you trust me?" She asked him in a whisper.

"With my lives." He replied back and she nodded before calling Mickey.

"Mickey, are you near your computer?" Was the first thing Rose asked the second Mickey picked up.

" _Am I near my computer?_ " Mickey asked sounding offended. " _I just saved your mum from that thing! And the first thing you asked after phoning me is if I'm near my computer?!_ "

"Mickey, me and the Doctor are _trapped_ in the Cabinet Room of 10 Downing Street that is _crawling_ with those ' _things_ ' as you put it. Now answer the question: Are you near your computer?" Rose growled out at him. There was a moment of tense silence, Rose took that time to walk over to conference table and plug her mobile into the intercom.

" _Yes._ " Mickey ground out.

"Good. There's a website that the Doctor needs you to hack into." Rose told Mickey before she turning to look at the Doctor who was giving her a guarded look. Oh, she had slipped up big time. The Doctor stormed over to her and pressed his lips against her ear.

"Why are you here?" He whispered harshly into her ear.

"We've been over this." Rose whispered back, her lips against his ear in return.

"Are you in danger of dying here?" The Doctor demanded in a whisper.

"I'm always in danger of dying." Rose told him receiving an annoyed growl as she pulled away from him. "We don't have time for this Doctor, tell Mickey the website you need him to go to."

"Ricky, don't talk, just shut and go to your computer." The Doctor growled out loud enough for Mickey to hear him. Rose caught Harriet's concerned look as her eyes flashed between her and the Doctor. Rose gave her a smile before making her way over to the poor woman.

"Don't worry." Rose told Harriet softly once she was next to her. "He get's like that when he's scared that he's about to loose me. Doesn't quiet realize yet that nothing will tear me away from him." Harriet's eyebrows shot up in concern causing Rose to laugh.

" _It's Mickey, and why should I_?" Mickey snapped.

"Mickey's my ex. Was with him before getting with the Doctor. Grew up with Mickey. I think the Doctor fears that since me and Mickey have this history together that I'll eventually just wander back over to Mickey." Rose told Harriet with a small shake of her head and smiled lovingly at the Doctor when he glanced at them, able to hear their conversation. "But like I said, _nothing_ is going to tear me from the Doctor."

"Mickey the idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, Rose is right, I need you." The Doctor growled out at Mickey, never looking away from Rose.

" _Where do I need to go?_ " Mickey asked after a few seconds of silence. The Doctor quickly told him the site URL. " _It's asking for the password._ "

"Buffalo. Two Fs, one L." The Doctor said holding out his hand towards Rose, silently asking her to come back to him. Rose smiled at him, it seemed he had decided that if she was potentially going to die that day, then he didn't want to be parted from her. She walked around the conference table and took his hand, allowing him to pull her flush against him.

" _So what's that website?_ " Her mother asked.

" _All the secret information known to mankind._ " Mickey explained. " _See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark._ "

"Mickey, you were _born_ in the dark." The Doctor growled at him.

"Oh, leave him alone." Rose told the Doctor, running her hand up and down the arm that held her to him.

" _Thank you._ " Mickey said. " _Password again._ "

"Just repeat it, every time." The Doctor ordered. "Big Ben. Why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?" He asked as Harriet handed Rose a class of wine.

"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet said as she handed the Doctor a glass of wine.

"That lot would have gathered for a weather balloon." The Doctor informed her. "You don't need to crash-land it in the middle of London."

"The Slitheen aimed their spaceship at Big Ben to cause a panic." Rose said.

" _Oh, listen to her!_ " Her mother hissed through the speaker.

"Mum, if you're not going to add anything, then hush!" Rose snapped at her.

" _Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind._ " Her mother said. " _Since that man walked into our lives, I've been attacked in the streets, I've had creatures from the pits of hell in my living room, and my daughter practically disappeared off the face of the Earth!_ "

"Mum, can we _not_ do this _now_?" Rose asked.

" _I'm talking to him!_ " Jackie snapped at her causing the Doctor to growl. " _'Cause I've seen this life of yours, Doctor, and maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me, just answer me this, is my daughter safe?_ " Rose felt the Doctor tense up.

"Mum, _please_." Rose begged her to stop. She knew that the Doctor was already questioning her safety, this was just going to make it worse.

" _Is she safe?_ " Jackie demanded. " _Will she always be safe, can you promise me that? Answer me!_ " The silence that fell over them was almost suffocating.

" _We're in._ " Mickey suddenly said snapping everyone back to the crisis at hand.

"Now, then. On the left, at the top, there's a tab, an icon, little concentric circles, click on that." The Doctor ordered a second later the room was filled with the sonic wave form that was the Slitheen's advert.

" _What is it?_ " Mickey asked.

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal." The Doctor informed them. "Now, hush, let me work out what it's saying." He demanded.

" _Hush!_ " Mickey whispered to someone, most likely her mother.

"It's some sort of message." The Doctor said.

"What's it say?" Rose asked, she had never did get the Doctor to tell her exactly what it said, just a vague description.

"Don't know it's on a loop, keeps repeating." The Doctor told her. Mickey's doorbell rang and Rose's heart sank. The Slitheen was there, hopefully Mickey had stocked his kitchen with anything and everything vinegar as she had suggested the one time she had called him. She knew that she wouldn't be able to tell Mickey to throw the vinegar on to the Slitheen, she had all ready let too much slip. "Hush!"

" _That's not me._ " Mickey said. " _Go and see who that is._ "

" _It's 3:00 in the morning._ " She heard her mother faintly said shocking Rose. Had that much time already passed?

" _Well, go and tell them that._ " Mickey told her in annoyance.

"It's beaming out into space. Who's it for?" The Doctor asked, listening to the advert that was broken up by Mickey's door bell every few seconds.

" _It's him, it's the thing! It's the slickeen!_ " She heard her mother yell.

" _They've found us!_ " Mickey cried.

"Mickey, I need that signal!" The Doctor told him.

"The signals not important! Get out! Mum, just get out! Get to safety!" Rose cried urgently as the signal faded, Mickey had moved away from the computer.

" _We can't, it's by the front door._ " Mickey informed them. " _Oh, my God. It's unmasking. It's gonna kill us._ "

"There's got to be some way of stopping them!" Harriet cried out. "You're supposed to be the expert. Think of something!"

"I'm trying!" The Doctor snapped at her in a growl.

" _I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back. Just run._ " Mickey told her mother.

"That's my mother." Rose told him desperately, hoping to start him asking for information to narrow his list of aliens down.

"Right. If we're gonna find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from, which planet." The Doctor stated. "So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to 5,000 planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!" He demanded.

"They're green!" Rose told him, her mind racing.

"Yep, narrows it down." He told her.

"Good sense of smell." Rose said.

"Narrows it down."

"They can smell adrenaline." Rose told him.

"Narrows it down."

"The pig technology." Harriet cried out.

"Narrows it down."

"Spaceship in the Thames. You said 'Slipstream engine'." Rose reminded him.

"Narrows it down."

" _It's getting in!_ " Mickey cried out causing Rose's heart to leap in fear, they were running out of time! They had to speed this up.

"They hunt like it's a ritual!" Rose told him urgently.

"Narrows it down."

"Wait a minute." Harriet cried. "Did you notice, when they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word. It's something else." Harriet closed her eyes to identify exactly what the smell was. "What is it? It's more like, um..."

"Bad Breath!" Rose told her.

"That's it!" Harriet cried out.

"Calcium decay! Now _that_ narrows it down." The Doctor cried out triumphantly.

"We're getting there, mum!" Rose told her.

"Too late!" Mickey yelled.

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium." The Doctor began muttering. "Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname! Yes!" He cried out. "That narrows it down to one planet! Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

" _Oh, yeah, great, we can write 'em a letter!_ " Mickey snapped out.

"Get into the kitchen!" The Doctor ordered them. There was aloud commotion, the Slitheen screeching, a door slamming shut and banging on the door as if something was trying to get in.

" _Oh, my God, it's going to rip us apart!_ " Jackie yelled.

"Calcium weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid! Vinegar!" The Doctor told them.

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet cried.

"Just like Hannibal." The Doctor agreed. "Mickey, have you got any vinegar?"

" _Well, yeah. Rose demanded that me an' Jackie both keep our kitchens stocked with the stuff!_ " Mickey told them and Rose could feel the hard look she was receiving from the Doctor.

" _You knew this was gonna happen! You knew we'd need the vinegar! That's why you told us to stock up on it!_ " Jackie suddenly yelled.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I never told you to stock up on vinegar." Rose lied. Maybe if she can lead the Doctor into thinking that it was her future self then she wouldn't look _as_ suspicious as she did. Rose was brought back to the situation at hand when there was a loud screech before a tense silence, and then a small explosion. Rose sagged into the Doctor in relief. Even though she had known that her mother and Mickey would wind up safe, there was still that small possibility that they would have been too late, that Jackie would have been able to toss the vinegar onto the Slitheen in time. Her sag of relief caused the Doctor to relax, as if coming to the conclusion that maybe she _hadn't_ known about the vinegar before him.

"Well," The Doctor muttered into her ear, "now we're gonna have to make sure that, once we get back to the TARDIS after this is all over with, you call back in time to tell Mickey and your mother to stock their cabinets with vinegar." She nodded to keep her lie in tact before grabbing her glass of wine and raised it up for a toast. Harriet and the Doctor following her. Rose laughed when the Doctor spit the the wine back into his cup at the taste of it. This Doctor was not a wine man.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen-**

" _Listen to this._ " Mickey said before the sound of the signal disappeared.

" _Our inspectors have searched the sky above our head._ " The voice of the acting Prime Minster came through the speaker. From the sound of it, it was clear that Mickey was holding his mobile up to the telly. " _And they have found massive weapons of destruction capable of being deployed within 45 seconds._ "

"That's a lie." Rose growled out glaring at the speaker as the Doctor tightened his hold on her.

" _Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction unless we strike first! The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mothership. I beg of the United Nations. Pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival, because, from this moment on, it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war._ " The Doctor reacted instantly. He released Rose with a growl and began to pace the room.

"He's just making it up!" He said glaring at the speaker. "There's no weapons up there. There's no threat. He just invented it."

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asked.

"There's no reason for them not to." Rose told her.

" _That's_ why the Slitheen went for spectacle. Rose was right, they want the whole world panicking," He growled before storming over to the sealed door, "'cause you lot, you get scared, you lash out."

"They release the defense codes," Rose started turning her body to be able to keep him in her sights.

"And the Slitheen go nuclear." The Doctor said as he flipped the switch.

"But why?" Harriet asked as the metal opened to show a room full of Slitheens.

"You get the codes, release the missiles. But not into space, 'cause there's nothing there." The Doctor growled out. "You attack every other country on Earth, they retaliate, fight back." Blon in her Margaret skin suit slid through the other Slitheens to make her way to stand just before the Doctor, a smirk on her face. "World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked."

"And we sit through it, safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames." Blon told them proudly. "Not crashed, just parked. Barely two minutes away."

"But you'll destroy the planet. This beautiful place!" Harriet cried out. "What for?"

"They told us earlier: Profit." Rose reminded her as she pushed away from the conference table and made her way towards the door, coming to a stop on the other side of the Doctor.

"That's what the signal is, beaming into space. An advert." The Doctor growled out.

"Sale of the century." Blon told them, her smirk deepening. "We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it. Piece by piece. Radioactive chunks capable of powering every cut-price starliner and budget cargo ship." She told them with a glare. "There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

"And it will only cost you five billion lives." Rose growled out glaring at Blon.

"A bargain." Blon told her darkly.

"I give you a choice. Leave this planet, or I'll stop you." The Doctor growled out darkly causing the room full of Slitheens to laugh.

"What? You?" Blon asked with a smirk. "Trapped in your box?"

"Yes. Me." The Doctor said before hitting the switch, sealing them in once more. Rose bit her lip wanting to ask the Doctor if he was going to fire the missile now or wait until after getting Mickey to try calling the contacts on the website, but didn't. She had already slipped up with mentioning the website, she couldn't risk mentioning the missile now. Rose took a few deep breaths, steeling herself to wait for when she could safely get them into the closet.

"Right, Rickey," The Doctor called spinning away from the sealed off door, his eyes flashing dangerously like lightning in a storm, his Northern accent deeper and more burly than normal, Rose knew that the On Coming Storm had been let loose, "on that website there should be a list of people to contact, start tryin' to contact 'em. Tell 'em what's happenin'." Rose walked over and took his hand and nearly dropped it at the shock of the static electricity that had shocked her, but the Doctor gripped her hand and refused to let her drop his hand.

The silence that fell over them as they listened to Mickey make phone call after phone call was heavy. Minuets ticked by as the three of them stood there waiting. After a few more minutes Harriet began to nervously pace, ringing her hands, muttering about how worried she was that mother was going to be left alone should she not make it out.

" _All right, Doctor._ " Her mother's voice came through the phone, breaking the silence around everyone. " _I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do._ "

"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Harriet suggested.

"Any luck, Mickey?" Rose asked, knowing the answer.

" _There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail._ " Mickey said.

"Voicemail dooms us all." Harriet said sadly.

"If we only had a way out of here." Rose said leaning into the Doctor.

"There's a way out." The Doctor told her.

"Yeah?" Rose asked looking at the dark look on his face.

"There's always been a way out." The Doctor told her.

" _Then why haven't you used it?_ " Jackie demanded.

"Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe." The Doctor informed her.

" _Don't you dare! Whatever it is, don't you dare!_ " Jackie hissed at him.

"That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies." The Doctor told her firmly.

"Do it." Rose told him softly causing him to look at her in shock.

"You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?" The Doctor asked and Rose nodded.

"Yes. Because just like you trust me with your lives, I trust you with mine." Rose told him truthfully. The Doctor looked at her in shock before pulling her into a desperate kiss.

" _Please, Doctor, please!_ " Jackie begged, pulling them apart. " _She's my daughter, she's just a kid._ "

"Do you think I don't know that?" The Doctor growled out, his eyes flashing like lightning again, his accent deepening and becoming more burly once more. "'Cause this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart. It's just standing up an' makin' a decision because nobody else will."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Rose asked.

"I could save the world, but lose you." The Doctor told her and the pain in his voice caused her to suck in a breath.

"Whatever it is," Rose started, her voice nothing more than a whisper, "we'll find a way to survive it." She promised him.

"Rose." He breathed out, his grip on her tightening.

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor." Harriet cut in, reminding Rose that she was still there. "It's mine."

" _And who the hell are you?_ " Jackie demanded.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people." Harriet announced. "And on behalf of the people, I command you to do it." Rose and the Doctor looked away from Harriet to look at each other before smiling.

"That's more like it." Rose said. "How do we get out?"

"We don't. We stay here." The Doctor informed them as he reached over and pulled the briefcase that held the Emergency Protocols towards him, opening it. He pulled out the folder before opening it and flipping through the pages, searching. "On the website there should be a way into the Royal Navy's database. Find me the nearest submarine. Use the 'buffalo' password, it overrides everything." The Doctor ordered Mickey.

" _What are you doin'?_ " Jackie asked Mickey.

" _Hacking into the Royal Navy._ " Mickey informed her. " _We're in!_ " He told the Doctor. " _Here it us, uh, HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, 10 miles off the coast of Plymouth._ "

"Right, we need to select a missile." The Doctor told him.

" _We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense code._ " Mickey told him causing the Doctor the growl at him.

"We don't need it. All we need is an ordinary missile." The Doctor told him. "What's the first category?"

" _Sub harpoon, UGM-84A._ " Mickey read off.

"That's the one! Select!"

" _I could stop you._ " Rose faintly heard her mother in the background.

" _Do it, then._ " Mickey dared her.

"You ready for this?" The Doctor asked.

" _Yeah._ " Mickey told him after a tense minute of silence where Rose wondered if her mother had actually tried to stop Mickey this time.

"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands." The Doctor told him firmly. "Fire." It was silent for a long minute before they heard Mickey's computer give a small noise when he clicked on is mouse to fire the missile.

"How solid are these?" Harriet asked pointing at the metal sealing the windows.

"Not solid enough. Built for short-range attack. Nothin' this big." The Doctor growled out and it was obvious to Rose that his mind was racing on trying to figure out how to protect Rose enough for her to survive.

"All right." Rose said pulling away from the Doctor, gaining his attention. "Now I'm making the decision. I promised you, Doctor, that we wouldn't survive this. And I'm gonna keep that promise. We're gonna ride this one out." She told him running over to the closet. "It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a doorframe. Now, this cupboard's small, so it's strong." She explained. "Come and help me. Come on!" She ordered as she began to empty the closet. The Doctor and Harriet ran over and began to help her.

" _It's on radar!_ " Mickey announced as they began tossing out books, lock boxes, baskets, anything that could potentially fall on them and harm them.

"Stop them intercepting it!" The Doctor cried running over to the speaker.

" _I'm doing it now!_ " Mickey told him.

"Good boy." The Doctor growled out.

" _556 neutralized._ " Mickey told them as they got the closet clear of everything that could fall on them and the bodies were pushed to the far corner of the closet. After pushing the bodies into the corner, the Doctor ran out of the closet and over to the conference table and grabbed her mobile. The fire alarm sounded and Rose knew the security were evacuating the building as she pulled pulled the Doctor into the closet. The pressed their backs against the fall wall and curled around each other hoping to give the other as much protection as they could. Rose felt Harriet sit as close to her side as she could, sandwiching Rose in between her and the Doctor, before taking her hand.

"Well, nice knowing you both." Harriet told them with a smile. "Hannibal!" Seconds later the missile hit. Rose couldn't stopped the scream that was ripped from her through as the room shook and tossed and spun.

"Rose!" The Doctor yelled.

"Oh, my God!" Harriet cried out. After what felt like days, but had actually only been a few seconds, the shaking and tumbling and spinning stopped as the closet landed with a heavy 'thud'. They all took a minute to collect themselves and to wait and see if the room was truly done before the Doctor slowly rose to his feet, taking Rose with him. Rose allowed him to scan her with his screwdriver, checking to any serious injuries before helping Harriet to her feet. They walked to the door and the Doctor barely pushed on it before it fell off its hinges. The three of them peeked out to see that they had landed on a pile of rubble and ash that had once been Downing Street.

"Made in Britain!" Harriet cried out happily as a police officer quickly, and carefully, made his way up the pile of rubble towards them.

"Oh, my God. Are you all right?" He asked.

"Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North." Harriet told him with a flash of her badge. "I want you to contact the UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on. Tell the news." She ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." The police officer said before making his way back down the rubble.

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out." Harriet groaned out with an eye roll. "Oh, Lord! We haven't even got a Prime Minister!"

"Maybe you should have a go." The Doctor hinted, alerting Rose that he had finally realized why her name was so familiar to him.

"Me! I'm only a backbencher." Harriet laughed out.

"I'd vote for ya." Rose told her with a smile.

"Now, don't be silly." Harriet told her firmly honestly believing that she wasn't cut out for the position of Prime Minister. "Look, I'd better go and see if I can help." Harriet said before taking off down the rubble while yelling that the Earth was safe. Rose laughed happily as she allowed the Doctor to help her down the pile of rubble and to the street.

"I thought I knew the name." The Doctor told her. "Harriet Jones. Future Prime Minister. Elected for three successful terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age." He explained as he lead her down the road, away from the direction Harriet was heading, with Rose assuming that they would catch a ride back the the TARDIS like last time.

However, the Doctor obviously had another plan. Rose squeaked in shock when the Doctor pulled her into an alley behind a building and pressed her back against the wall. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and buried his nose into her hair, taking a deep, shuttering breath of her scent.

"Doctor?" Rose asked quietly.

"I could have lost ya today, Rose. I nearly lost ya." The Doctor told her, his body tensing and his arms tightening around her. "If ya hadn't been so smart to figure out the thing with the cupboard..." He let the sentence hang.

"I'm here Doctor, I'm safe." Rose told him as she ran her hands along his chest, knowing he needed to feel her.

"I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost ya." The Doctor whispered to her.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm not going anywhere." Rose told him. Her only response was the Doctor pulling her into a desperate kiss, his tongue lapping at her bottom lip asking for entrance which was granted. They both groaned when their tongues brushed against each other in a sensual dance.

Rose gripped onto the collar of the Doctor's leather coat as the Doctor's hands began to roam her body. They ran through her hair, down her face, across her throat and paused at her breast to knead at them, pinching her nipples. She moaned an arched her chest into his hands, earning a possessive growl from the Doctor before his hands began to move again. Down her stomach to the button of her jeans. He wasted no time in unbuttoning her jeans and shoving them down to her knees, as one of his hands found its way into his soaked nickers while the other latched onto her hip, holding her there.

"Oh, God! Doctor!" Rose cried, pulling away from the kiss as one of his fingers found its way into her soaking center. The Doctor growled and latched onto her neck.

" _Mine._ " She heard him growl as his finger started to work its way in and out of her, it's two brothers quickly following it.

"Yours." She agreed as her hips began to rock.

"Rose." The Doctor groaned, his fingers going faster. "I _need_ you."

"Oh, God! Doctor! Don't stop!" Rose moaned, tossing her head back.

" _I want you so bad Rose. I need to feel you around me, feel your tight core around me. Please say you'll let me have you._ " He whispered in her ear, his voice had taken on a musical tone to it, almost like a song, same as it had when he had eaten her out in the console room. The muscles around his fingers tightening at the memory.

"Oh God! Yes! Doctor! Yes! Take me! I need you! Please!" Rose begged him and nearly cried when his fingers were practically ripped out from inside her with a loud, possessive growl from the Doctor. She heard the sound of his belt being messed with and opened her eyes that she hadn't realized she had closed to see him undoing his belt just before he unbuttoned his jeans and shoved them down to his ankles, pants going along with them. Rose's eyes widened at the sight of him standing tall and proud, a bead of precum on the head of his erection, and knew that the Doctor hadn't been lying when claiming to be _impressive_. She moaned at the sight of him as the muscles in the center clenched, needing him in her. "Doctor. Please." Rose moaned.

"Shush, Rose. I've got ya, love." The Doctor told her as he lifted her leg, removing her jeans and nickers so that they were now hanging on one leg, and wrapped her leg around his waist, rubbing himself against her core. Rose moaned and thrusted against him. "I know what ya need." He groaned out kissing her before he reached down, took himself in hand, and guided himself into her.

"Yes!" Rose hissed in pleasure she felt herself stretch almost painful. He was the biggest she had ever taken, and yet her body quickly stretched to accommodate him, as if her body was made to fit him inside her.

" _Oh Rose, you're so tight. You're squeezing me so tight!_ " The Doctor moaned heavenly in her ear, his voice taken on the musical tone once more, he pulsed inside her before the skin of his erection _rippled_ from the tip to the base causing her to cry out. He sat in side her as he gave her a minute to get used to him before he slowly pulled back before pushing back in, his erection rippling once more.

"Fuck!" Rose cried out, eyes closing again as she tossed her head back, not caring when it hit the wall behind her. "More!" She demanded and he began to speed up, rippling every time he entered her. "Yes! Yes!" Rose cried out.

" _You're so perfect Rose. Like a Goddess. My Goddess! Mine!_" The Doctor sang to her lifted her other leg to wrap around his waist, hands gripped her arse, using it as leverage to lift her up and slam her back down into his thrusts. The shift in position caused him to hit deeper inside her, the tip of his erection slamming into her womb.

"Yes! Yours! Yours! I'm yours!" Rose cried clinging to him as he slammed in and out of her. "Don't stop! Don't stop! Don't Stop!" His erection seemed to be constantly rippling now.

" _Never gonna stop! So close._ " He sang to her.

"Me too! So close! Don't Stop!" Rose begged him feeling herself flying closer to the edge.

"Cum for me, Rose. My Rose, my beautiful Rose." The Doctor whispered, nipping at her ear, and Rose found herself swan diving over that edge.

"Doctor!" She yelled as her body twitched and convulsed with the power of her orgasm. The Doctor thrusted a few more times before he buried himself deep inside her with a satisfied growl. The rippling quickened before he tensed and his hot seed shot out, coating her womb. The Doctor sagged, her body against the wall the only thing keeping them off the ground, and rested his forehead on her shoulder as they panted, trying to regain their breath.

"Well," Rose breathed out, "that escalated quickly." She joked causing him to laugh before pecking her on the lips. Rose whimpered at the loss when he pulled out of her. "No." She whined receiving another chuckle and a kiss on the lips.

"Later." He promised her, "After I've taken care of the Slitheen's advert. Don't want any bargain hunters showing up." He told her reminding her just _where_ they were as he sat her back on her shaking legs. The Doctor quickly pulled his pants and jeans back up, doing up the belt before he helped her nickers and jeans back on her leg so that they could pull them up. Once their clothes were situated, the Doctor took her hand and lead her out of the alley way and back towards the street. They quickly located the nearest police officer and got a ride back to the TARDIS.

 **~Replay~**

An few hours after returning to the flat while the Doctor stayed in the TARDIS create a signal that would negate the Slitheen's advert found Rose curled up in the chair in front of the TV, playing with the TARDIS key the Doctor had given to her. Rose laughed silently at the memory. Mickey had just gotten there, after having been ordered to retrieve the young boy who had griffitied 'Bad Wolf' onto the TARDIS, and the Doctor had made a big scene of digging into his coat pocket. He pulled out the key on a chain for her to wear around her neck.

"If you're going to be living with me on the TARDIS, you'll need yourself a key." The Doctor had told her before pulling her into a deep kiss. It had been a show, she knew that, a warning, a 'hands off the blonde'.

"Harriet Jones." Her mother said, walking into the room, snapping Rose back to the present. "Who does she think she is? Look at her, taking all the credit. It should be you on there. My daughter saved the world!"

"I think the Doctor helped a bit." Rose told her with an amused smile.

"All right, then. Him, too." Jackie grumbled as she flopped into the chair next to hers. "You should be given knighthoods." Rose bit her lip to stop from telling her mother that they technically were, Sir Doctor of the TARDIS and Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. Though _this_ time it would they would both Sir Doctor and Dame Rose of the TARDIS.

"It's not the way he does things. No fuss, he just moves on." Rose explained, and that was true of this Doctor, and even her other Doctor, and the one time they stayed to the very end they got knighted and banished in the same breath. "He's not that bad, if you gave him a chance."

"He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that." Jackie said.

"Oh! Now, the world _has_ changed. You're saying nice things about him." Rose teased.

"I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since you're infatuated." Jackie told her with a pout.

"More than infatuated. I love him." Rose told her mother.

"What does he eat?" Jackie asked.

"How do you mean?" Rose asked.

"I was gonna do shepherd's pie. All of us, proper sit-down like intended. 'Cause," Jackie cleared her throat in embarrassment, "I'm ready to listen. I want to learn about you and him and that life you lead." Rose knew that this was as close to an apology that either she or the Doctor was ever gonna get from her mother. "I mean, I didn't know he was an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins, and things. And anyway, how does that work in the bedroom? Him being an alien, I mean. Does he even have the proper equipment?" Rose laughed at that.

"No need to worry about that, mum. He's got the proper equipment." Rose told her mother with a blush remembering how he looked in the alley way, all big and erect. Rose felt herself become slick as her lower muscles clenched, calling for him.

"Thought ya'll weren't sleepin' together." Jackie hissed with a glare.

"We hadn't before, when I told you that. But things can quickly change, especially after living through a crisis." Rose informed her mother with a blush.

"Rose Marion Tyler! That is _not_ how I raised you to act! Out in public like some slag!" Jackie hissed at her.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't really planed, mum! If it had been, it would have been in our room in the TARDIS! But things happen! And we _needed_ to make sure that the other was still with us, alive and safe!" Rose snapped at her. "And any ways, he'll have shepherd's pie. Loves shepherd's pie in fact, especially the way grandmum makes it." Jackie sighed before standing up from the chair.

"Speaking of your gran, you'll need to visit her tomorrow," Jackie told her as Rose's mobile began to ring. "and learn some French. I told her you were in France. I said you were au-pairing." The Doctor was calling.

"We all set then?" Rose asked.

" _Yup, just got to send out this dispersal and then once it takes effect we'll be able to leave. Should take a couple of hours to fully disperse._ " The Doctor told her before she heard him hit a few buttons on the keyboard. " _That's canceling out the Slitheen's advert. I'll want to stay to make sure it properly disperses it._ "

"Oh, good, that'll give you enough to come up here and have that sit-down." Rose told him.

" _Rose._ " The Doctor whined and Rose smirked, knowing that he had hoped with everything that had happened that she would have forgotten about the sit down.

"Doctor." Rose said back to him in a mock whine. "My mum's already cooking."

" _Then you can put her on a slow heat and let her simmer while you come to me. It's later, Rose._ " The Doctor told her with a seductive growl. Rose's body flushed with heat and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself.

"Later is after the sit-down." Rose told him and received an annoyed growl.

" _Rose._ " He growled in warning.

"Doctor." Rose growled back. "You told me you wanted to make it up."

" _I thought I already had! In the alley way!_ " The Doctor cried out.

"I told you what you had to do to make it up to me." Rose told him calmly, she was not going to let him talk his way out of this sit-down like last time. It was silent. If he had hung up on her then he was going to get a right smack!

" _I'll be up in a moment. I've got to change. Can't go having a sit-down with your mum while smelling your aroused scent from where it soaked into my clothes._ " The Doctor told her after a minute causing Rose to both blush and smile.

"Wear the burgundy jumper, it brings out your eyes." Rose told him and laughed as he grumbled over the phone before she hung up on him. She snuggled further into the chair, happy that she was finally getting the sit-down with _this_ Doctor that she had always wanted.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen-**

The Doctor groaned, running his hands through his hair, as he leaned against the console. His head was killing him. A result of hours combing through his Time Line to try and figure out what was changing his past. He could already feel the ripple effect hitting him. Thankfully his memories of his time with his Rose were still there (even if they had changed), which meant that whatever was changing his past was happening after he had met and saved his Rose.

However, that still didn't mean his Rose was completely safe. One wrong move, one tiny change, and his Rose was dead. Mickey uses the wrong type of missile and that cupboard wasn't strong enough to protect them from the blast. The Dalek in Utah wouldn't decided to spare Rose's life and use her as a bargaining chip. Cathica wouldn't decided to go to floor 500 to save them. _Any_ sort of change was a possible danger to his Rose. He _needed_ to find what was causing these changes and put them to a stop.

The smell of freshly made tea caused him to blink his eyes open. A mug of tea was now sitting in front of him. Without thought, the Doctor reached out and brought the cup of tea to his lips. Super-heated infusion of free radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing synapses. The Doctor let out a small, happy groan as the taste hit his sensitive taste buds. It was made just the way he liked it: two tea spoons of 24th century banana flavored milk, and a splash of honey. Rose would always make his tea like this to help his mind relax.

His eyes snapped open as he swallowed his sip before pulling the cup away from his lips. He looked over his shoulder to where Martha was lounging with her medical book. "Did you make this?" He asked her.

"No. You hate the way I make your tea. Never able to get the right amount of milk or honey." Martha informed him distractedly as she highlighted something in the book.

"Did _I_ make it and forget?" The Doctor asked.

"When would you have had the chance? You've been standing at the console for over four hours, barely moving. If I hadn't seen your chest rising and falling, I would have feared you had stopped breathing and died." Martha informed him with a small laugh.

"Then how did this get here?" The Doctor demanded.

"Rose placed it there a couple a minutes ago." Martha told him.

"Can't have happened, Rose isn't here." The Doctor told her receiving.

"That's 'cause she just left to go have lunch with Jack and her River friend that we're not allowed to meet." Martha told him, her voice dripping with accusing anger at the end of her sentence.

"No, I mean Rose isn't _here_ , in _this_ universe!" The Doctor growled at her gaining a concerned look from the woman over her book.

"Doctor, are you sure you're all right. I know Rose told me that you had a rough night full of nightmares and all, told me you'd be out of it for a while and to just leave you be until you've come back to yourself. But this is getting worrisome." Martha told him slowly setting her book down. "It was just a nightmare. Rose _didn't_ fall into the Void, _nor_ did she get trapped into the other universe, Pete's World as you and Rose call it."

His memories began to clash. There was the memory of Rose slipping from the lever and slowly being pulled towards the Void, him hopeless to stop her decent, Pete popping in, catching her, they shared a fearful look, and then she was gone. Forever lost to him. Then there was the _new_ memory: Rose dangling from a rope tied to the manga-clamps, her just slipping from the lever, her screaming in pain as her shoulder was pulled out of its socket, Pete popping in and back out, empty handed, the void closing with Rose still in this universe.

He shook his head dislodging that new memory. No matter how much the thought of being able to keep Rose with him was a nice idea (more than nice, brilliant really!). It couldn't happen. It wasn't _meant_ to happen. Rose was _suppose_ to fall and be caught by Pete. _That_ was how it had originally happened for him, so _that_ was how it should go.

 _'No matter how much you wish, no matter how much you want to, remember Theta, you cannot change your past. You can change everyone else's past (so long as it's not a fixed point), but you're past is the one thing that you cannot change. Remember that.'_ His teachers words echoed through his mind.

"It wasn't a _nightmare_. It's what _happened_." The Doctor growled out.

"Right." Martha said wearily before pulling out her mobile. "I'm just gonna call Rose back to the TARDIS. I'm sure that she'll know how to help you."

 **~Replay~**

Rose smiled as she hugged her mother goodbye. They'd had a fantastic sit-down. All of them. Even Mickey had shown up after the young boy had finished washing the Graffiti off the TARDIS. Of course, Rose had to calm the Doctor down when Mickey had stepped into the flat, whispering reminders of that was to come _after_ the sit-down. It had been a little tense after Mickey had shown up, but after a while everyone had relaxed.

Rose had been so happy to have been able to tell her mother everything. About how beautiful the end of the Earth had been, how annoyed she had been at having been forced to miss the actually _end_ of the Earth (not going into detail of the danger). How awesome it had been to actually _meet_ Charles Dickens, how exciting it was to have witnessed what inspired his last book. Cried over the loss of Gwyneth (not actually going into detail _how_ she had died).

They had all laughed and cried and joked and complained with and about each other. They ate and drank. Her and the Doctor flirted with each other, stealing kissing whenever they could. It was only when the Doctor's fingers started to _wander_ closer to her core that Rose knew it was time to leave.

"Right, don't forget to call." The mother told her as she pulled away from the hug.

"I won't. I'll call whenever I can. I can't promise it will be everyday, but I can at least promise that it will be a least once a week." Rose promised her. Jackie looked like she was going to argue before sighing, accepting that was the best she was gonna get. As Rose backed way from her mother, the Doctor gently took her hand. "Right, well, best get the Doctor to the TARDIS so that we can leave. He's not good with staying in one place for more than a couple of hours, not unless there is danger around." She joked receiving a laugh from her mother and a playful glare from the Doctor.

Rose and the Doctor turned, left the flat, and had only taken a few steps before the Doctor stopped. "Oh, right, nearly forgot." The Doctor said before turning around to look at Mickey, who had followed them out of the flat. "Present for you, Mickey." He said pulling out a disc from his coat pocket and handed it to the confused boy. "That's a virus. Put it online, and it'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist."

"What do you want to do that for?" Mickey asked.

"'Cause you're right. I am dangerous." The Doctor said reminding Rose of the small argument that had happened a few minutes after Mickey had shown up at the sit-down. Mickey _reminding_ everyone how dangerous the Doctor's life was, about how many dead bodies followed him, of course Mickey had received a slap from Rose for that. "I don't want anybody following me."

"How can you say _that_ and then take her with you?" Mickey demanded.

"Mickey, he's not _taking_ me I'm willingly _going_ with him." Rose told Mickey firmly. "Now, just shut up and take your present." Mickey looked away with a sour look on his face. Rose glared at him. They stood there for in a tense silence before Mickey sighed and snatched the disc from the Doctor. "Good boy. Now give me a hung." Mickey rolled his eyes biting back a smile as he pulled Rose into a hug. "Tell me you'll see me later."

"See you later, babe." Mickey told her receiving a warning growl from the Doctor.

"I'll see you when I see you." Rose told Mickey before pulling away from the hug and taking the Doctor by his hand and led the Doctor towards the TARDIS. The second they had walked through the TARDIS doors, the Doctor had her pinned against the door, his mouth demanding attention from hers. Rose moaned and ran her tongue along his bottom lip, receiving a pleasure filled growled from the Doctor as he opened his mouth. The Doctor's hands began to roam, starting from her back, running up over her shoulders. One hand wandered up to her cheek and held it, tilting her head to get a better angle, while the other hand walked down her chest and rested over her heart for a minute before continuing its wandering, after giving her breast a loving squeeze. It made its way down her abdomen to her hips where his fingers walked to her back and down to grab her arse.

"Doctor, shouldn't you be checkin' to see if that dispersal signal's done its job?" Rose asked pulling away from the kiss.

"Don' need ta." The Doctor murmured as he trailed his lips along her throat. "Know it worked. I created it."

"Aren't you just so impressive?" Rose teased with a small moan.

"You _know_ I'm impressive." The Doctor told her, thrusting his hips into hers. She moaned louder before finding the strength to push the Doctor away from her, receiving a growl from the Doctor.

"Doctor, go check the dispersal signal and then send us to drift into the Vortex." Rose told him. "I'll be waiting in our room." Rose quickly made her way around the Doctor and into the hallway, finding the door to their room while silently asking the TARDIS to keep the Doctor away from the room until she was ready for him. Rose quickly ran to her en suite, stripping as she did. She knew that she didn't actually have time for a real shower or bath, but that didn't mean that she couldn't wash up.

Rose sent the TARDIS a silent thinks when she found a sink full of warm, rose scented water waiting for her in the bathroom, along with a wash cloth, a razor, and her 53rd century shaving cream. She quickly wet her legs using the washcloth and the warm water before rubbing the shaving cream along her legs. As she let the cream sit and begin to warm on her skin, Rose reached over and grabbed her raise, wetting it in the water before she began to carefully shave her legs.

Thankfully her legs were in that much need of a shave, so the process went by quick before she was cleaning the excess shaving cream from her smooth legs. ' _My Thief is getting impatient._ ' The TARDIS whispered to her, sending an image of an annoyed Doctor storming down the hallway in search of the door to their room. Rose smiled as she quickly washed up before wrapping herself the short black lace kimono and sexy black lace thong that the TARDIS had laid out for her.

"Right, best not keeping him waiting any longer." Rose said with a smile as she made her way back into the bedroom. She had just gotten settled into the bed when the Doctor stormed in, his mouth opened to demand why she had the TARDIS hid the room from him. However, when the Doctor's eyes landed on her, his mouth snapped shut. "Had to make myself look all pretty for you." Rose told him with a sexy smile.

"Didn't need to, you're already pretty, gorgeous, a Goddess really." The Doctor told her causing Rose to blush and smile lovingly at her. Rose held her hand out towards the Doctor.

"Come to me, my Doctor." Rose said and the Doctor took her hand, allowing her to pull him onto the bed. The Doctor slid up her body, covering her with his heat and weight, before kissing her slowly. The kiss stayed slow and languid, both of them needing the other to know that this wasn't just about sex. "I love you." Rose whispered against his lips and smiled when he sucked in a breath.

"The word 'love' don't do justice to explain how I feel about you. Obsessed and addicted are wrong and yet are also right." The Doctor told her before kissing her once more. " _You are my hearts. My world. My light. My everything. My universe revolves around you._ " The Doctor sang into her ear. Rose response was to pull him into a heated kiss.

"Make love to me." Rose whispered. The Doctor pulled her into a kiss, his hands began to caress her body as he began worshiping her. He broke away from the kiss and began to kiss his way down her chest, between her breast, down her abdomen. Fire followed his lips underneath her skin. Rose moaned and arched her chest when his fingers brushed against her nipples. She whined when his lips bypassed the place where she wanted them and began to kiss his way down her left thigh before switching to her right leg.

" _Beautiful. So beautiful and mine._ " The Doctor sang as he nuzzled into her inner thigh. Rose gave a strangled cry when he nuzzled closer to her soaked core.

"Please, Doctor, please!" Rose begged with a moan. The Doctor didn't verbally respond, he just slowly kissed his way back up her body, pausing at her belly to untie the kimono and push it open with a soft moan.

" _So beautiful. So, so beautiful. My Goddess. My beautiful, beautiful Goddess._ " The Doctor sang to her as he kissed and caressed her chest and abdomen turning Rose into a puddle of fiery goo of incoherent pleading. The Doctor's fingers danced down to her core and brushed against it. Rose cried out thrusting her hips, silently begging him to touch her. The Doctor's fingers rubbed at her core and Rose nearly cried in relief.

"Doctor." Rose moaned as her hips began to rock against his finger, chasing her release. "Please, please, please." The Doctor kissed her as his fingers slipped under the lace thong and slipped a finger into her and began to slowly thrust the finger. Rose tried to thrust her hips to get him to go faster, the Doctor added another finger into her. He slowly thrusted the two fingers in and out of her before slipping in a third finger into her. Slowly, almost painfully slow, the Doctor worked her to the edge and kept her there for a long, painful minute, before pushing her over the edge. "Doctor!" Rose cried as he eased through her orgasm before removing his fingers from her and brought them to his lips.

" _You taste so sweet. Like nectar._ " The Doctor sang out, with a moan, around her fingers. " _If you would allow it, I would eat your nectar every day._ " The Doctor made his way down her body, kissing and licking, until he was down by her core once more. He gently pulled her thong down and moaned at how wet she was. " _Such a beautiful, glistening flower._ " The Doctor praised before he slowly licked her.

"Fuck!" Rose hissed arching her body, eyes snapping open to stare at the ceiling with wide, unseeing eyes. Rose's hands began to claw at the bed, trying to find something to ground her, as the Doctor began to slowly lick at her. The strokes of his tongue was slow, languid, and _sure_. As his tongue began to slowly thrust into her, the fingers began to rub her sensitive clit. Her hips began to thrust and his free hand slid under her to press her lower back up, angling her hips for a better angle, and allowed her to hump his face. It didn't take long before Rose was flying over that edge once more. "Doctor!" Rose screamed as the Doctor's tongue worked her through her second orgasm.

It took Rose's brain a few minutes to realize that the Doctor was intending when he didn't stop his licking and sucking even after orgasm had washed over her. He gently nipped, sucked, licked, and used his fingers to bring her to her third orgasm before he crawled up her body. She tasted herself, with a moan, when he kissed her. She clung to him, arms wrapping around his shoulders, hands tying to grip on to his short hair, legs wrapping around his waist. The kiss was passionate yet so full of love.

The Doctor pulled back after a minute, causing Rose to whine. He gently unwrapped her arms from around his shoulders and pulled off his jumper (Rose just realizing that his leather coat having been long gone before he had entered the room). "Gorgeous." Rose told him, her eyes taking in his chest. It was lean, a runner's body.

"I think you're mistaking my body with your's. You're the only one here with a gorgeous body." The Doctor told her with a smirk.

"Nuh uh." Rose told him with a shake of her head. "You're gorgeous. Wouldn't mind seeing you with naked every day."

"I'm not pretty, Rose." The Doctor told her sadly and Rose lifted up onto one of her arms to be able to place a gentle hand onto his cheek.

"Doctor, you may not be 'pretty' to other people's standards, but to me you are the most handsome and sexy man alive." Rose told him before pulling him down for a kiss.

"Rose." He breathed out pulling away from the kiss.

"And I'll keep reminding you of that fact for the rest of my life, if you'll allow me." Rose told him before finding her with her back on the bed once more as the Doctor kissed her frantically, almost desperately. Rose felt the Doctor making quick work of his belt and jeans, never once breaking the kiss. Rose pulled back and had to laugh when she realized that, while changing, the Doctor had decided to go pants-less. "Planned for this, did ya?" She teased.

"I _had_ promised you later, and pants would have just gotten in the way." The Doctor told her with a smirk. "This way, there was one less article of clothing between us."

"Come here, my Doctor." Rose said with a loving smile.

"Oh, I plan to." The Doctor told her with a wink before taking himself in hand and easing himself into her. They moaned at the feeling of him entering her. Her body easily stretching once more to fit him. Rose moaned at feeling the Doctor ripple once he had entered her completely. The Doctor kissed her shoulder lovingly before he started a long, slow rhythm that Rose met. Neither of them felt the need to rush. This wasn't some desperate need to be reassured that the other was there with them shag in an alley way, this was them making love to each other. This was slow, and passionate, and perfect as the Doctor quietly sang sweet nothings into her ear.

Slowly their rhythm began to speed up as the need to chase their orgasm over took them. The Doctor's thrusts became hard and fast as he shifted onto his knees, pulling her onto him. He gripped her hips while he began to lift her up and slam her down to meet his thrusts. " _You're perfect, so perfect. I love you._ " He sang to her.

"Love you. Love you so much." Rose moaned as he began to hit deeper into her. "So close. So close. Don't stop! Don't stop!"

" _Cum for me, my Rose. My beautiful pink and yellow Rose. My Goddess._ " The Doctor sang and Rose tossed her head back in a silent scream as her world exploded. Rose wasn't sure, but she was positive that she had blacked out for a minute or two, because when she came to, the Doctor had pulled out over her and was laying wrapped around her, her back to his chest, and the blankets were pulled around them. "Hi." He whispered into her ear as his fingers danced up and down her arm.

"I don't think I've ever blacked out from an orgasm." Rose informed his softly and could practically feel his proud smirk.

"Thank you." The Doctor told her causing her to laugh.

"You think you're so impressive." Rose said and moaned when he pressed his already erect dick along her arse.

"I think I've proven to you a few times now that I _am_ so impressive. But if you would like another demonstration of my impressiveness, I'll _gladly_ give you another one." He whispered huskily into her ear.

"How can you already be ready to go again?" Rose asked.

"Double hearts, binary vascular system. Allows me to recover twice as quick than any human male can." The Doctor informed her with a smirk. Rose quickly rolled over, threw her leg over the Doctor, and rolled him onto his back.

"Well, if that's the case." Rose joked with a teasing smirk before taking him in hand and sliding down him so suddenly his head fell back against the pillow, his eyes rolling back and a deep half growl half moan was pulled from him. Rose rested her hands on his chest, over both of his hearts, as she raised herself up so that just the tip was in before slamming down onto him.

"Fuck!" The Doctor growled out, his erection rippling, as Rose lifted herself up once more. The Doctor's eyes flashed as he gripped onto her hips, almost bruisingly, before pulling her down onto him as he thrusted up.

"Yes!" Rose screamed in pleasure. She rose again, and he pulled her down onto him, thrusting, once more. "Like that! Just like that! Don't stop!" Rose cried as she rose once more only to have him pull her back onto him as he thrusted up.

"Does my Rose like it rough?" The Doctor growled as he gripped her thighs and flipped them over, using the momentum to thrust rough and deep into her.

"Yes!" Rose hissed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. The Doctor thrusted into her like that a few times before he grabbed her leg and threw it over his shoulder before _drilling_ her. "Oh God! Oh God! Doctor! Yes! Like that!" Rose cried, fingers clawing at his back and arms. "Harder! He growled and gripped onto the headboard that was slamming against the wall and used it to angle himself to be able to thrust harder. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Rose cried out with every thrust.

" _Rose! Rose! Rose!_ " The Doctor sang in a deep growl.

"Oh God! So close! Don't Stop!" Rose cried before the Doctor _bit_ her shoulder causing her to spasm as her orgasm slammed into her hard. He howled his completion seconds after her. When Rose came to, the Doctor was still inside her, and he was draped over her panting. "I think we make a pretty good team, what about you?" Rose asked, panting as well, causing the Doctor to laugh.

"Oh, most definitely. We're a right Hope and Glory. Mutt and Jeff. Shiver and Shake." He told her as he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back, pulling her to rest on his chest.

"Which one's Shiver?" Rose asked teasingly, tongue in her teeth as he mind flashed back to when his pin stripe self had said those same words to her, just before her world was lost to her forever. Rose shoved those dark thoughts away. She was here now with a second chance, and she _would_ change the ending to that fight even if she had to _tie_ herself to that damn Magna-Clamp.

"I'm definitely Shake." The Doctor told her nuzzling into her hair. Rose went to reply but yawned instead. "Sleep. I think you've earned a rest." Before Rose could argue, her mind was pulled into unconsciousness.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen-**

Rose was running. Her tears were falling from her face. She had messed up! He had found her! She had to get to the TARDIS! The TARDIS wouldn't let him in. If she could just get to the TARDIS, everything would be safe. If she got to the TARDIS, their plan could still be done.

"Rose!" He yelled as he ran behind her, his voice begging her to stop. Rose bit back a choked sob. She couldn't let him catch her. Where was the TARDIS? She couldn't have been _this_ far from her? "Rose stop!" Rose ran around the corner, pushing through a group of people, stumbling and falling to the ground. She had to keep going! Ignoring the pain of her scrapped hands and knees, Rose pushed off the ground and took off once more. "Rose! Why are you running from me?" He as a lot closer now.

"Please! Just leave me alone!" Rose called back to him, begging him to understand, begging him to just let her do what she had to.

"I can't do that! You know I can't!" He called back. His fingers grazed her arm and, in a split second decision, she bolted down an alley. "Damn it, Rose! Just stop running! Let me fix this!" He had quickly caught back up.

"There's nothing to fix!" Rose yelled as she dodged his hands once more, before having to slid to a stop. She had trapped herself in a dead end. She heard him stop a few feet behind her. Rose closed her eyes, her tears coming down faster. Her body was shaking with both fear and adrenaline. She had failed. He had caught her.

"Rose." He whispered, begging for her to turn and look at him. She shook her head. She couldn't make herself look at him. She had fail him. Failed the TARDIS. Failed the _universe_. He stepped closer and touched her shoulder. She reacted on instinct. She spun and slapped him. His head turned and he looked shocked. _She_ was shocked. Rose had never slapped him before. They stood there in shock for a minute before his chocolate eyes were glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry about this." Was her only warning before he launched himself at her.

"No!" Rose yelled and tried to fight him off. She pushed and slapped at him as his arms tried to get a good grip on her.

"Rose! Stop! You're making this harder than it needs to be!" He growled at her.

"Good! I'll not go without a fight!" Rose growled back, her eyes flashing.

"Bad Wolf." He hissed. "I should have known you were behind this!" His arms grabbed her around her waist and tried to pull her to him. Rose quickly brought her legs up and shoved them against his chest. He grunted, the wind getting knocked out of him for a moment, as his arms released her in pain. Rose cried out in shock when her back hit the ground, not expecting him to have dropped her like that. She quickly rolled to her stomach and forced herself to her feet, once she got back to the TARDIS she would have to have the girl check her over for injuries. Rose took off, trying to dash around him, but he was quicker. His arm lashed out and grabbed her, pulling her kicking and scream to him.

"No! Please don't! Please, Doctor! Please don't do this!" Rose cried as he pressed her against the wall, using his body to pin her arms and legs down. His hands quickly found her temples. "Please! No! You don't have to do this! Please! Stop!" She begged as she heard boots hitting the ground, running towards them. If she could just stall him long enough for this person to get there...

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He told her, tears falling down his cheeks just as Jack rounded the corner with a horrified look. She howled in pain as the Doctor forced his way into her mind before Jack could pull him off her.

Bad Wolf lashed out at his mind. He quickly caged Bad Wolf and locked her in the darkest part of her mind, leaving Rose defenseless to stop him as he located all of her memories of her first time traveling with him and erased them so that there would be no chance of them coming back. He then located every memory of her and his past self being intimate together and forced her mind to remember them only as dreams that she'd had. And with each memory erased or altered, her soul broke until there was nothing left. And what was worse, she could feel the same thing happening to him. She had allowed this to happen. She had been too careless. Slipped up too much. If she had just been more careful, listened to the whispered warnings of Bad Wolf, none of this would have happened!

Rose's eyes snapped open. She frantically looked around. She wasn't in that alley way. Her mind wasn't being assaulted by the Doctor. She was now in what appeared to be the TARDIS console room. Rose gasped as her frazzled mind registered the room she was in. The console room had been destroyed! Most of the coral pillars had been smashed, the walls ripped apart. The console, itself, had been torn apart and thrown around the room. The room itself was dark and cold and lifeless. Just like it had been back in Pete's world. The TARDIS was dead, or at least dying.

Rose's eyes were drawn to a motionless body lying on the floor. She carefully made her way to the body and gasped when she saw who it was. It was the Doctor. He looked like a skeleton. His face was sunken in, his cheek bones sticking out. His skin was the color of ash. His brown pin stripe suit had been traded in for a blue one and was practically swallowing him. His hair was a wild mess. And he seemed to be barely breathing.

"Oh, Doctor." Rose breathed out, tears falling from her eyes, knowing that she had done this to him.

 _He was never the same after he 'fixed' the changes. He hunted down everyone that had their memories changed and forced them to remember it the way it was 'supposed' to happen._ The TARDIS whispered in her mind weakly causing Rose to sob.

"I'm so sorry." Rose cried.

 _He chased off his companion, Martha. Lashed out at her every time she tried to get him to lean on her. Lashed out at everyone that tried to help him. Lashed out at me for allowing this to happen._ The TARDIS hissed at her.

"This is _my_ fault!" Rose sobbed out.

 _You're damn right it is! I warned you what would happen if you weren't careful! I've brought your mind here so you can watch what you've done to him. To us!_ Rose closed her eyes. _I SAID WATCH!_ Rose chocked out a sob and forced her eyes open. She watched as the Doctor gave a few shuddering breaths.

"Rose." He whispered in that sing-song tone of his with his last breath. Rose waited, tears falling from her eyes, waiting and trying to mentally will him to regenerate.

 _He won't. He's choosing death over life without you. The memories of what could have been, what he could have had with you, were too much. But he'd rather die then get rid of them. And I shall not live with out my Thief or you, my Wolf._ The TARDIS told her before falling silent. Rose curled in on herself and balled. She had killed them! Her careless actions had _killed_ them!

"No! I'm sorry! Please take me back! Take me back! Give me a second chance! I'll do better! I'll be more careful!" Rose screamed, her hands flying to her hair, tugging at it. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll do better! Please give me a second chance!" The scene around her began to slowly change as she began to rock back and forth. The Doctor's dead body disappeared, the console room slowly put itself back together, the destroyed console disappeared before reappearing fixed and whole. The lights came on and the usual sound of the TARDIS calming song began singing once more.

"Look at me Rose." The TARDIS told her, her voice firm. Rose stopped rocking and blinked up at the woman she had seen in her dream before being mentally transported back in time. The TARDIS sighed and bent down, gently wiping Rose's tears. Rose blinked before launching at her, wrapping her in a desperate hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I'll do better! Don't leave me! Let me try again!" Rose begged as the TARDIS began to gently run her fingers through Rose's hair, humming to her in a calming manner.

"That hasn't happened _yet_ , Rose." The TARDIS told her and Rose pulled back just enough to look at her. "What I've just shown you hasn't actually come to happen. But, if you continue to slip up as you have been, if you continue to act careless, it _will_ come to pass."

"I'll be more careful, I promise!" Rose swore.

"I know. And I apologize for shocking you like that, but you _needed_ to truly understand what would happen if our pin stripe Thief catches you." The TARDIS told her. "And showing you the end of that potential timeline was the only way to do so." Rose sobbed. "I'm going to send you back to your Doctor. And remember: listen to Bad Wolf. She will show you what needs to be done, otherwise you are just an observer, reliving this life. Keep it as close to the original memory, unless told otherwise by me or Bad Wolf."

"Yes ma'am." Rose nodded.

"Close your eyes. The next time they open, you'll be in bed with your Doctor." The TARDIS informed her. Rose closed her eyes and a second later she felt the rough, calloused fingers of her leather clad Doctor whipping away her tears.

"Rose, Rose, wake up, you're having a nightmare." He whispered to her urgently. Rose's eyes snapped open and she shot up in bed. Eyes taking in their room with the lights dimmed. She was back. She hadn't fucked up bad enough to call the pin striped Doctor to her. He hadn't caught her. The Doctor and the TARDIS were still safe. Rose covered her mouth to try and smother the sob that flew from her mouth. A second later she was being pulling into the Doctor's arms. "It's all right, Rose. It was just a nightmare. Whatever you saw, it wasn't real." But it could be. It was still an option that could happen. An urge to tell the Doctor what she had seen welled up in her, this was Bad Wolf letting her know she could talk to the Doctor about it as vague as she could while still getting to the core of what scared her.

"It was horrible." Rose whispered, nuzzling into his chest, seeking his comfort. "You and the TARDIS died. I killed you. My actions caused both of you to die. I watched you take your last breath, heard the TARDIS's song come to an end." The Doctor's arms tightened around her before he pulled her into his lap.

"I'm here, Rose, I'm not going anywhere." He promised her as he ran a calming hand through her hair. Rose rested her head on his chest, in between his hearts and just listened to them. The sound of their double beats comforted her. It told her that he was there, that he was alive. The TARDIS hummed quietly as she mentally nuzzled into Rose's mind, sending her love, letting Rose know that she was there, alive and well. They stayed like that until Rose was lulled back to sleep by the beating of the Doctor's hearts.

 **~Replay~**

Rose hummed as she tilted her head back angling her head to better kiss the Doctor as he bent over her, hands resting on the back of the captain's chair on either side of her head, while she sat on the captain's chair. The kiss was slow and languid and full of the love they held for each other. Neither of them had an urge to deepen the kiss, content to keep the kiss as it was.

"I love you." Rose told him when he pulled back to rest his forehead on hers.

"And I love you." The Doctor told her. Rose hummed once more, closing her eyes and just enjoying being with him. "As much as I would love to just stand here and kiss you forever, I have something planned for us. Something that involves a nice lunch on Barcelona, the planet Barcelona, not the city. You're gonna love it. And then a nice stroll through the famous Blue Rose forest on the planet 'Rosen Maiden' during it's fall season, a magical moment."

"That sounds lovely." Rose told him lovingly.

"And then, tonight, I'll take you to see the singing towers on Darillium after a nice, romantic meal at the 'Cupid's Bow'." The Doctor told her and something washed through her. A feeling. A warning. Bad Wolf was trying to tell her to not let the Doctor take her to Darillium. The picture of that woman who had given her the Sonic Wave Blaster flashed through her mind. It was then that she realized that she was only supposed to go to Darillium with that woman.

"I can't wait." Rose told him. Her mind began to race as she tried to figure out how to get out of going to Darillium with the Doctor. The Doctor smiled before kissing her once more.

"You're gonna love it." He told her before straightening up and turning towards the console. Rose watched him as he quickly typed in the coordinates for the planet Barcelona and wondered if she was actually going to get to see this planet that had dogs with no noses.

"Right, you go and get ready." The Doctor told her as he flipped the switch to start the dematerialization. Rose smiled and slid off the captain's chair, intending to do as he told her. However, the second Rose's feet hit the ground, a loud siren began to go off. Rose's eyes widened in fear. She had only heard this signal sound once before. Why was this happening again? Why was the TARDIS allowing them to be pulled off course like this?

 _The Dalek needs to be destroyed._ The TARDIS told her. _We cannot allowed that Dalek to stay in the hands of Van Statten. The torture will force it to go insane and kill every one. The only way to stop it is for you to contaminated it with your DNA._ Rose blinked back her tears at all of the deaths that she was going to be the cause of. _I'm sorry My Wolf, if there was any other way, I would chose that way._

Rose mentally gave the TARDIS an understanding pat before focusing her attention on the Doctor as the TARDIS gave a dangerous shake. Rose stumbled back onto the captain's chair as the Doctor gripped the edge of the console to keep upright. "Doctor, what's wrong? What's going on? What's that siren? Is the TARDIS okay?" Rose asked allowing a hint of panic into her voice. The Doctor didn't answer her. She watched as he carefully made his way over to the keyboard and screen. His hands began to fly across the keyboard. The TARDIS shook once more. The Doctor's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What's happening? What's wrong?" Rose asked. He looked at her.

"It's a distress signal. One powerful enough to pull the TARDIS off course." The Doctor informed her.

"And that's a problem, yeah?" Rose asked.

"Oh yes." The Doctor told her. "The only thing powerful enough to pull a TARDIS off course is another TARDIS."

"But isn't our TARDIS that only one left since the war?" Rose asked, gripping on to the edge of the captain's chair to keep from being thrown off it by another dangerous shack.

"She is. Which means that something else out there with a signal powerful enough to pull a TARDIS off course. And that means this thing is our very worst enemy that we have to deal with or our very best friend that we keep glued to our side." The Doctor told her as the TARDIS landed. The Doctor held out hand for her and Rose took it before they walked cautiously down the ramp towards the doors. "Right, I'll go out first. We don't know what is out there waiting for us." He told her as he dropped her hand.

"Be careful." Rose told him.

"I'm always careful." The Doctor replied.

"Need I remind you that you blew up my job, nearly destroyed Platform One, blew up a building in Cardiff 1869, and blew up 10 Downing Street." Rose jokingly pointed out.

"Oi! Platform One was not my fault! Casandra was the one to nearly destroy Platform One! I saved it! And Mickey blew up 10 Downing Street." The Doctor told her with a mock glare.

"Only 'cause you told him to." Rose told him with a wide smile.

"I was _commanded_ by Harriet Jones, MP of Flydale North to order Mickey to blow up Downing Street." The Doctor told her. The two of them stared at each other before busting out laughing. Once they settled down the Doctor turned back towards the door, took a deep breath, opened the door, and stuck his head out. The rest of his body slowly followed.

"So what is it? What's wrong?" Rose asked as she slowly followed the Doctor out, her eyes searching the dark room, looking for Dalek that she _knew_ was a floor or two below them.

"I don't know. Whatever sent out that signal isn't here in _this_ room." The Doctor told her as he began to search around them.

"Where are we?" Rose asked taking his hand once more.

"Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground." The Doctor told her squeezing her hand as the head of what looked like an alien snake caught his attention. It was stuffed and placed in a glass case, and had like a million sharp and tiny teeth.

"And... when are we?" Rose asked.

"2012." He told her distractedly Rose reached around the Doctor and flipped the light switch that was next to the glass case holding the alien snake head. The lights came on to illuminate the hundreds of other glass cases and displays that inhabited this room.

"Blimey." Rose whispered, she had forgotten how many alien artifacts, stuffed arms, and stuffed heads there had been. As she took everything in, it almost felt as if there was _more_ than last time. Had that giant eyeless half money half dog looking head been there last time? "It looks like a great bug museum." Was that a predator head? Were predators real? Were they like how the movies portrayed them?

"An alien museum." The Doctor growled out. Was that a giant metal skeleton? "Someone's got a hobby." The Doctor began to lead her down the isle. "They must've spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite. Moon dust." He pointed out the contents inside the case next to Mr. Snake head. "That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship." He pointed to hand sized circular metal contraption in the case across from the meteorite and moon dust.

"That's a bit of Slitheen!" Rose pointed out. A few cases ahead of them was a stuffed Slitheen arm. "That's a Slitheen's arm, it's been stuffed!" Rose dropped the Doctor's hand to walk over to the Slitheen's arm. She bent down a little to be able to get a close look at the arm without touching the glass, not wishing to set off the alarm and call attention to themselves.

"Ah, look at you!" She heard the Doctor cry out softly. Rose turned from the Slitheen arm to see him staring at this universe's version of Cyberman's head further down from her. It was big and clunky and honestly looked like some theater kid created it in their basement with foam and tubing and whatever spare bits and pieces they could glue together before painting it a metallic color. It was a far cry from the sleeker looking Cybermen from Pete's world.

"What is it?" Rose asked him.

"An old friend of mine." He told her. "Well, enemy." He glanced at her before taking her hand in his. "The stuff of nightmares, reduced to an exhibit." Rose rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm getting old." He muttered.

"Is this where the signal's coming from?" Rose asked, knowing the answer.

"Nah, it's stone dead." The Doctor told her with a shake of his head. "The signal's alive. Something's reaching out. Calling for help." The Dalek flashed through her mind as the Doctor reached out and touched the glass case. Rose jumped and tightened her grip on the Doctor as the alarm went off. As if they had been waiting just outside of their vision, Van Statten's soldiers were quick to surround them, almost appearing out of no where. The Doctor's grip on her hand tightened almost painfully as guns were pointed at them.

"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A." Rose muttered to him.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty-**

"You take me to the most romantic places, Doctor." Rose joked as she and the Doctor sat in the tiny holding cell with her legs across his lap and her back against the wall.

"Well, I do try." The Doctor told her with a wide smile as his fingers messaged the muscles of her legs. The both looked over towards the metal door when it opened. Goddard, Van Statten's assistant, strolled in, her eyes glaring at them.

"He'll see you now." She told them harshly.

"Oh, will he, that's nice." Rose said as she swung her legs from the Doctor's lap to place her feet on the ground. Goddard motioned to them and Van Statten's soldiers quickly separated them. They were then forced to leave holding cell and walk up the flight of stairs and all the way into Van Statten's office, that looked at obnoxious as she remembered it.

"And this is the last." Rose heard Adam tell Van Statten as they entered. Adam handed over the musical alien instrument. "Paid $800,000 for it."

"What does it do?" Van Statten asked as Rose and the Doctor were forced to stand in front of Van Statten, a couple of soldiers standing behind with their guns trained on them. Rose balled her fist to stop herself from reaching over and taking the Doctor's hand, remembering the reaction from their escorts when she had done so a few minutes ago.

"Well, you see the tubes on the side?" Adam asked pointing at the tube like area of the instrument. "Must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel."

"I really wouldn't hold it like that." The Doctor told them gaining Van Statten's and Adam's attention.

"Shut it!" Goddard hissed at him. Rose lent her body back to be able to glare at her from around the Doctor the same time that the Doctor turned his head to glare at her before turning back towards Van Statten. "Really though, that's wrong."

"Is it dangerous?" Adam asked him nervously.

"No," The Doctor said with a shake of his head and a smirk on his lips, "it just looks silly." He reached out to take the instrument from Van Statten. The soldiers behind them cocked their guns and the Doctor froze. Fear, anger, and worry warring in his eyes. Van Statten held up his hand and the soldiers lowered their guns, but the Doctor didn't relax. Once they were done here, Rose was going to help him relax, he'll need it after everything he'd be forced to go through.

She watched the Doctor force a smile onto his face as Van Statten slowly stood up and held the instrument to him. The Doctor gently took the instrument before holding it in the palm of his hand. "You just need to be..." he gently ran his fingers over the tube like area and a beautiful not flew from it, "...delicate." He shifted his fingers slightly and the note changed in tone. Rose couldn't help smiling lovingly at him.

"It's a musical instrument." Van Statten said in aw as the Doctor continued to play it. Rose suddenly longed to be that instrument, knowing how well the Doctor could _play_ her. Rose blushed and forced that thought away. As they always told Jack: there was a time and place, and _this_ was not the time _nor_ the place.

"And it's a long way from home." The Doctor said.

"Here, let me." Van Statten said before he ripped it from the Doctor's hands and Rose had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping at the man. Van Statten began to run his fingers over the tube like area, trying to mimic the Doctor's finger movement, but only succeeding in causing a harsh cord of notes to fly out of it.

"I did say 'delicate'." The Doctor told him through his teeth. "It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." A second later the instrument let out a beautiful note and the Doctor smiled. "Very good. Quite the expert."

"As are you." Van Statten told him with a smirk, still playing with the instrument in his hand. Rose blinked at the image that thought created, Jack had corrupted her mind. Rose was brought out of her thoughts when Van Statten threw the instrument onto the ground beside him. "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor growled out glaring at the man. "And who are you?"

"Like you don't know!" Van Statten hissed out. "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah." The Doctor said with a small chuckle.

"Question is," Van Statten started as he began to move around from behind his desk, "how did you get in? 53 floors down, with your little cat-burglar accomplice." Rose glared at Van Statten when she felt more than saw his eyes look her up and down with a leer. "Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty."

" _She's_ gonna smack you if you keep calling her a 'she'." Rose growled at him.

"She's English, too!" Van Statten cried out in excitement. "Hey, Little Lord Fauntleroy, got you a girlfriend." He called to Adam over his shoulder causing the Doctor to growled dangerously at him.

"This is Mr. Henry Van Statten." Adam introduced.

"And who does he think he is when he's at home?" Rose asked, glaring at Van Statten.

"Mr. Van Statten owns the internet." Adam told them and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Don't be stupid. No one owns the internet." Rose said with a shake of her head. She _really_ wanted to slap everyone in this room, but the Doctor.

"Let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right, kids?" Van Statten said with a smirk as his eyes ran over her once more.

"So you're just about an expert in everything, except the things in your museum." The Doctor growled out pulling Van Statten's attention from her to him. "What you don't understand, you lock up."

"And you claim greater knowledge." Van Statten asked with a glare obviously not used to not being the smartest person in the room.

"I don't need to make claims. I know how good I am." The Doctor told him.

"And yet I captured you right next to the Cage." Van Statten hissed and Rose had to stop herself from sucking in a breath at the reminder of why they were there. She couldn't give any indication that she knew what was in that Cage. "What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me." The Doctor told him.

"The Cage contains my one living specimen." Van Statten informed them.

"And what's that?" The Doctor asked.

"Like you don't know." Van Statten hissed out with a glare.

"Show me." The Doctor ordered.

"You wanna see it?" Van Statten taunted and Rose wouldn't mind seeing the Doctor's living specimen.

 _'Time and place girl! Time and place!'_ Rose hissed at herself as she felt herself wetten.

"Blimey, you can small the testosterone." Rose muttered fanning herself as she tried to cool her body down knowing that the Doctor could smell her. She didn't want him to become distracted by the smell of her arousal.

"Goddard! Inform the Cage we're heading down." Van Statten ordered his assistant, she nodded before stepping off to the side, finger on her Bluetooth. "You, English, look after the girl." He ordered Adam. "Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do." The Doctor let out another dangerous growl as he glared at Adam. "And you, Doctor with no name." Van Statten said with a smirk walking around the Doctor towards the lift at the back of the room. "Come and see my pet!" The Doctor turned and looked at it at her while taking her hands in his.

"Wait here for me, this shouldn't take more than a few minutes." The Doctor told her.

"Be careful, you don't know what condition this thing is in." Rose warned him vaguely.

"I'm always careful." He joked with a wink before kissing her knuckles.

"I'm waiting, Doctor." Van Statten called out and Rose rolled her eyes while biting back the urge to tell him to keep waiting.

"Don't take too long, I might get bored and wander off." Rose told him as she gently pushed him towards Van Statten and the lift.

"Don't go wandering off!" The Doctor told her as he stepped onto the lift.

"Then don't take too long." Rose told him as the lift doors closed with a loud ding. It was quiet for a long, tense moment before Adam seemed to find his voice. Rose closed her eyes and fought off the urge to slap him, at least once the Dalek had been taken care of she wouldn't have to deal with Adam anymore.

A picture of Adam on the TARDIS flew through her mind and Rose knew it was from Bad Wolf. She wanted to whine and throw a fit as the news station flashed through her mind and knew what Bad Wolf was trying to tell her. Rose would have to invite Adam onto the TARDIS so that they would have a reason to go to Satellite Five.

"Van Statten doesn't like people to be in his office when he's not in it." Adam informed her motioning towards the door.

"And we wouldn't want to do anything that Mr. Van Statten doesn't like." Rose bit out with a roll of her eyes as she stormed out of the room, allowing Adam to direct her to his office.

"He tends to get rid of people who does things he doesn't like." Adam informed her as they got to his office. "Sorry about the mess." He told her and Rose had to bit her tongue to refrain from informing the boy that the Doctor in his next body was messier than this. That, one morning, Rose had woken up to a very annoyed TARDIS and a destroyed kitchen (the third one behind the library) and the washer in the laundry room in bits a pieces. For a good three months they had to either stop at a laundry mat or drop their clothes off at her mums if they wanted clean underwear since the TARDIS had refused to clean their clothes after that, even after the Doctor had put the washer back together.

"I've seen worse." Was all Rose told him as she looked around.

"Mr. Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods." Adam told her. Rose slowly walked around the room, taking in everything as she counted down the minutes until it was safe for her to make her way down to the Cage without the Doctor in it. "What do you think this is?" Adam asked gaining her attention. She looked over to see him holding a piece of metal. It was burnt and twisted and seemed to have a rubbery feel to it, but thanks to Bad Wolf, Rose knew that it had broken off from one of the satellite and fallen to Earth. It's trip back through the atmosphere had twisted it into the condition it is now.

"A piece of metal from a satellite." Rose told him.

"No, see here." Adam said pointing at the edge of the twisted metal. "This right here leads me to think... Well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft."

"A satellite _is_ a spacecraft." Rose told him dropping the piece of metal onto his desk, that was a metal table on wheels, with a loud metallic 'clank'.

"What?" Adam asked blinking at her in shock.

"A satellite is a spacecraft." She repeated.

"No it's not." Adam told her.

"Is a satellite build specifically designed to go into space?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, but-" Adam started.

"Do it or does it not go into space?" Rose asked cutting him off.

"Well, yeah, but-" Adam tried again.

"And people can be inside the satellite making it a craft, yes?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, but you see-" Adam started once more.

"So, we agree that a satellite is a craft built for _space_ and we agree that a satellite is a _craft_ that goes into space. There for, we can agree that a satellite is a _spacecraft_." Rose told him.

"But it's not _alien_." Adam told her.

"'It's not _alien_ '?" Rose repeated her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah! The thing is, it's all true, everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet. Spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist." Adam told her urging her to believe him. Rose sighed and looked away from Adam wondering what she had ever found fascinating about him? Sure he was cute, in a boyish way, but he was also _very_ annoying and obnoxious.

"You don't say?" Rose asked him sarcastically.

"I know it sounds incredible. But I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life." Adam told her excitedly.

"Well, it would be pretty damn cocky for us to assume that we're the only life in this universe." Rose told him and nearly laughed at his disappointed look. He had hoped to impress her. "And you do what? Sit here and catalog everything?"

"Best job in the world!" Adam told her proudly.

"I'd rather be out there, experiencing everything rather than stuck underground, hidden away." Rose told him glaring around the room.

"Oh, I would give anything to do that." Adam told her wishfully. "But I don't think it's ever gonna happen. Not in our lifetimes."

"You'd be surprised." Slipped out of Rose's mouth before she caught herself. "What about all of those people who say they've been inside of spaceships and things, and talked to aliens?" Rose asked hoping to cover up her slip.

"I think they're nutters." Adam told her receiving an eyebrow raised at him.

"You think they're _nutters_?" She asked before holding up the melted piece of satellite metal. "You're hidden _underground_ cataloging all of this space junk, claiming aliens and their spacecrafts are real, and yet the people claiming to have actually met and talked with aliens are the _nutters_?" Rose asked him causing his face to darken in embarrassment.

"I just meant that why would aliens come to Earth? What do we have to offer them? They're so advanced!" Adam exclaimed.

"Not all aliens species are advanced. And aliens come to Earth for anything: to invade, to hide, to vacation," Rose's mind flashing back to Mickey explaining his job for the Torchwood in Pete's world, "and sometimes it's not even their choice to come to Earth." She finished remembering the Doctor telling her how he had been banished to Earth, grounded. The TARDIS's space and time flight disabled by his people. How he had been forced to work for UNIT in that time. There was an awkward silence before Rose sighed. "How d'you end up here?"

"Van Statten has agents all over the world, looking for geniuses to recruit." Adam told her proudly.

"Oh, right, you're a genius. You didn't even know a satellite was a spacecraft." Rose told him and glared at her.

"I am a genius. I was born clever. I wouldn't be here other wise." Adam told her. "When I was eight, I logged onto the US defense system. Nearly caused World War Three."

"Yeah, well, 'bout seven years ago, my best mate hacked into the British Royal Navy and _stopped_ World War Three. Not as impressive as you might think." Rose told him with a smirk and received another glare from him.

"You had to be there. Just to see them running about. Fantastic!" Adam told her laughing.

"You remind me of the Doctor." Rose told him remembering how the Doctor blew up her job and had been excited about it.

"Are you and him...?" Adam asked.

"Yeah." Rose told him.

"Well, that's a shame." Adam told her.

"And why is that a shame?" Rose asked him with glare.

"'Cause a girl like you shouldn't be on the arm of an old pervert like him. If it's his money, Van Statten pays me very-" Rose cut Adam off with the patent Tyler Slap® knocking him to the ground.

"Right. I am no gold digging whore that is after the Doctor's money! I am with him because I love him you pompous git!" Rose growled at him.

"You slapped me!" Adam cried out.

"You best be _glad_ that that is _all_ I did to you!" Rose told him before storming out of the office.

"Where are you going?! You can't wander around by yourself! I'll get fired!" Adam called as he ran after her.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One -**

"Rose, we're not supposed to be down here." Adam hissed at her as they neared the Cage. For the twenty minutes that Rose had been 'wandering' around the floors, Adam had been trailing behind her trying to get her to go back to his office.

"But I want to see this specimen, don't you?" Rose asked allowing Adam to grab her by her elbow and pull her to a stop a couple of feet away form the door leading into the room just outside the Cage.

"Of course, but we're not allowed in there without special permission from Van Statten." Adam whispered to her, fear in his eyes as he glanced at the doorway. "If you want to see the Metaltron, I can patch into the camera in the Cage. We'll be able to see the Metaltron with a live feed and I'll be able to keep my job."

"We are already here, why would I want to walk back up all those stairs just to stare at a tiny screen to see this 'Metaltron' when I can just walk through those doors and see it in person?" Rose asked and Adam sighed in annoyance.

"You'll never get three steps past that doorway. The soldiers in there will stop you." Adam informed her.

"You the _supposed_ 'genius', figure out away for us to get into the Cage." Rose ordered in annoyance knowing that had she had the psychic paper she would have been able to flash it and easily gain access into the room.

"You're not gonna drop this, are you?" Adam asked.

"Nope." Rose told him causing his to groan in annoyance. His hand ran through his hair as he turned away from her. She watched him, waiting to see what he would do.

"Fine, but if I get you in there, you owe me a date." Adam told her causing her to laugh.

"Think again, mister. I'm with the Doctor, I don't date other people." Rose told him.

"Then you're not getting my help getting access into the Cage." Adam told her.

"Then I'll just figure out another way in." Rose told him as she began to look around, her mind racing to figure out away in.

"Damn it, Rose. Just give me _one_ date! That is all I'm asking in exchange for risking my job for you!" Adam hissed at her.

"And asking for a date is risking more than just your _job_ if the Doctor finds out." Rose told him. "The Doctor isn't a sharing kind of guy.

"Another reason you shouldn't be with him! He is too possessive! Won't allow you to do anything you want to do, always gotta do what _he_ wants you to do!" Adam hiss.

"You're about to get a right smack, if you don't shut up." Rose growled at him, her eyes flashing. "Now, are you or are you not going to get me access into that Cage? Or am I going to have to do it alone? And just a quick warning: if I get hurt in any way, you'll be _wishing_ to be dead by the time the Doctor is through with you."

"Come on." Adam growled out before beginning to lead her into the room, digging out his badge.

"Hold it right there." A soldier ordered the second he got within three steps into the room.

"Level three access." Adam told them, flashing his badge at them. "Special clearance from Mr. Van Statten." He led her past the man in an orange hazard suit fiddling with a drill. Rose looked around the Cage, taking in all the tools used to torture the Dalek laying on the metal table just inside the Cage.

"They've been torturing it." Rose hissed at Adam as the Cage door shut, while turning to look at the Dalek. Rose took a deep breath and shoved her fear away. She had to do this. There was no other way around this. They had to destroy this Dalek and fusing her DNA with it was the only to way to so.

"Don't get too close." Adam whispered to her. Rose rolled her eyes at him before cautiously making her way towards the Dalek. This was for the Doctor. She was doing this for the Doctor. The Dalek was looking away from her, at the ground. Rose took another breath when she got right in front of the Dalek.

"Hello?" Rose asked bending to be able to look into it's eye-stock. She waited for an answer she knew wouldn't come. "Are you in pain?" She asked it, not expecting an answer, she paused to mentally steel herself. "My name's Rose Tyler. I've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor." She informed it, the eye-stock shifted and Rose knew she had it's attention. "What's your name?"

"Yes." The Dalek told her.

"What?" Rose asked it and the eye-stock rose to look at her.

"I am in pain. They torture me," the Dalek told her, and even though she knew it was using kindness to trick her, she knew that the statement about them torturing it wasn't a lie and her heart felt for the creature, "but still they fear me." For good reason, too. "Do you fear me?" The Dalek asked her.

"No." She whispered thankful that she had locked her fear for the Dalek in the back of her mind and could no longer feel it. The Dalek's eye-stock dropped and for a split second Rose wondered if it could sense her fear.

"I am dying." The Dalek told her softly, and Rose allowed her heart to be tricked by it.

"No, we can help." Rose told it.

"I welcome death." The Dalek told her before lifting its eyes-stock back up to look at her face. "But I am glad that before I die, I met a human who was not afraid." This Dalek deserved an award for it's acting, but then (Rose thought as she allowed her eyes to tear up) so did she.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" Rose asked as a tear fell from her eye.

"My race is dead. I shall die alone." The Dalek told her, pulling at her compassion. And damn, if it didn't work. Even though she _knew_ it was all a trick, Rose felt her heart clench at the thought of this thing, or anyone, dying alone. But she would use this chance to contaminate the Dalek. She reached out and placed a hand on its armor.

"Rose, no!" Adam cried out a second too late. Rose gasped in pain at the burning pain in her hand of the Dalek taking her DNA. She quickly pulled her hand away and held it to her chest. She had done it. She had used her DNA to contaminate the Dalek. Now they just had to wait until it actually took hold. Rose quickly backed up to stand next to Adam, her hand still cradled to her chest.

"Genetic material extrapolated." The Dalek cried out in victory. "Initiate cellular reconstruction!" It broke out of the chains that were holding it in place as the Cage door flew open.

"What the hell have you done?" The hazmat guy demanded as he ran in with his drill. He quickly made his way over to the Dalek, Rose went to stop him but something kept her from doing so. The Dalek lifted up its plunger arm up at the man. "What ya gonna do? Sucker me to death?" The man taunted before the Dalek latched onto his face with the plunger. The man screamed. Rose watched in shock horror as the man was sucked dry.

"Go!" Adam yelled as he literally pushed her out of the Cage, the door slamming behind them.

"It's killing him! Do something!" Rose cried running over towards soldier, crying as she knew that there was nothing they could do. They were all going to die because of what she _had_ to do.

"Condition red. Condition red. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!" The soldier announced over the comms. "Seal the Cage!" He ordered. Rose backed up from the Cage door knowing that it wouldn't even slow the Dalek down.

" _What's going on? What is happening down there?_ " Goddard's voice came through the speakers as her image appeared on the screen.

"I don't know. It just started acting up. It broke through the chains and it's killing Simmons." The soldier quickly informed her.

" _You've got to keep it in that cell!_ " She heard the Doctor order, the way his voice started from far away from the mic alerted Rose that he had just run into the room. Rose followed the urge to have the Doctor see her and quickly made her way over towards the camera.

"Doctor, it's all my fault." Rose informed him.

"I've sealed the compartment." The soldier informed him. "It can't get out. That lock's got a billion combinations."

" _The Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat._ " The Doctor told them. As if to prove the Doctor's point, the Dalek began to calculate the combinations on the lock. Rose was pulled away from the screen and pushed towards the exit by the soldier. It was a tense moment as they watched and watched for the Dalek to unlock the Cage door. Rose wanted to bolt. Wanted to run away. Wanted to get to the Doctor before forcing them to hide in the TARDIS. But her body wouldn't move, wouldn't listen to her.

"Open fire!" The commanding soldier ordered be fore him and De Maggio began to shoot pointlessly at the Dalek.

" _Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed!_ " She barely heard Van Statten order over the sound of the guns shooting.

" _Rose! Get out of there!_ " She barely heard the Doctor yell out as the Dalek began to move forward, out of the Cage, pushing them back.

"De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive." The commanding soldier ordered when they had to reload. "That is your job, got that?"

"You! With me!" De Maggio ordered before quickly leading them back down the hallway as her commanding officer stayed behind and shot at the Dalek. Rose's body ran at a light speed to keep just behind De Maggio yet in front of Adam even though Rose wanted to book it. A picture of a stop sign flashed through her mind and Rose knew then that it was Bad Wolf trying to get her to stop trying to force her body to run faster. An image of her stuck inside the vault flashed in her mind. She had to get trapped in the vault.

The lights in the hallway began to flicker before going dim. What was happening? What was going on? What was the Dalek doing? She and the Doctor had never spoken about what happened with the Dalek the first time around. It was too much of a traumatic experience for both of them. Though, she did remember that after this, the Doctor had started sneaking into her room at night to watch her sleep. She knew he thought he had always gotten away with it, but he had always left something behind: A bookmark from a book he had been reading, a coffee ring on her bedside table nearest the chair he would use, a few bits and bobs of whatever item he had been destroying at the time. That, and after she had connected with the TARDIS, the old girl began to give him away.

" _All guards to converge on the Metaltron Cage immediately._ " She heard Goddard order over the comms.

"Civilians! Let 'em through!" De Maggio cried out as they came upon a group of soldiers running at them, towards the Cage. The group of soldiers allowed them to pass before they quickly took up a defensive position. Rose flinched when she heard a scream before guns began firing. They ran faster and didn't stop running until they came to the stairway.

"Stairs!" Rose heard herself say. "That's more like it! It hasn't got legs, it's stuck!"

"It's coming! Get up!" De Maggio ordered and they ran up half a floor before stopping to watch the Dalek slowly enter the stairway. Rose watched it look at the stair, her body shaking with adrenaline and her fighting off her need to run from the Dalek.

"Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs!" Adam taunted causing the Dalek to turn to look at them.

"Now listen to me." De Maggio started. "I demand that you return to your Cage. If you want to negotiate, then I can guarantee Mr. Van Statten will be willing to talk." Oh, he'll be willing to talk once the Dalek had its laser pointed at him. "I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong," (Maybe? _Maybe_ it was wrong? There was _no_ maybe about it! It doesn't matter if the thing was a murderous pepper-pot from space! That is _no_ reason to imprison someone and _torture_ them. Rose mentally screamed at her.) "but people have died, and that stops, right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"

"Elevate." It said slowly, as if taunting them, daring them to do something to it.

"Maybe we should start running again." Rose pointed out.

"Adam, get her out of here." De Maggio ordered.

"Come with us." Rose begged knowing that this woman didn't have to die today, that she could come with them and survive. "You can't stop it."

"Someone's got to try." The woman told her before pushed her up the stairs as Adam took off, leaving her behind. "Now get out! Don't look back, just run!" Rose bit her lip to keep from screaming as she heard De Maggio start firing at the Dalek. Rose flew out of the stairway, easily catching up to Adam, and allowed a tear to fall from her eyes when she heard De Maggio scream as the Dalek killed her.

"Don't stop!" Rose called to Adam as he looked back. "We have to keep running! We have to get to the Doctor! He'll know what to do!" They ran through the labyrinth like hallways, sliding around sharp turns (Rose catching Adam when he nearly tripped and fell), while trying to get to another stairway. Why did Van Statten think it was a good idea to separate the stairways? Why couldn't there have been one long stairway up?

Rose and Adam ran into the large area where they tested the weapons they found and modified only to come to a sliding stop. An army of men were in a defensive position behind boxes, walls, on the cat walk, anywhere they could find.

"Hold you're fire!" Rose heard someone order. "You two, get the hell out of there!" They quickly ran pasted the army and through the door on the other side of the room. Rose felt her body come to a stop and turned to look back into the room. Bad Wolf was not going to let her get too far ahead of the Dalek. Rose watched, panting from adrenaline, as the Dalek casually rolled into the room. Its eye-stock turned and locked onto her. The Dalek was watching her, feeling her emotions. It was beginning to become contaminated. Adam grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the door as the Dalek turned its body to face them.

"It was looking at me." Rose told him as Bad Wolf forced her body to stop, pulling Adam to a stop.

"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us!" Adam hissed at her pulling at her arm to try and get her to start running again.

"No, but it was looking right at me!" Rose told him, knowing that he wouldn't understand.

"So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing, it's looking all around." Adam told her trying to urge her to continue running. But it was too soon, if Rose continued running now she would be too far ahead of the Dalek. Bad Wolf couldn't allow that.

"I don't know. It's like..." Rose started. "It's like there's something inside, looking at me, like... Like it knows me."

"Open fire!" Rose heard yelled from the room and a second later everyone began to fire at the Dalek. Rose flinched and Bad Wolf allowed her body to start running once more. In, what felt to be, hours later (but was only about ten minutes), they made it to the next stairway. As soon as Rose took one step into the stairway, her mobile began to ring. She quickly pulled it out of her pocket and answered it without looking who it was. If it was her mother, then she would hang up and call her back with an excuse, she needed this line clear for the Doctor to call.

"This isn't the best time!" She growled into the mobile as they ran up the stairs.

" _Where are you?_ " The Doctor demanded.

"Level 49." Rose told him.

" _You've got to keep moving. The vault is being sealed off up at level 46._ " He informed her and Rose nearly cried at what the Doctor was about to go through. She knew that he had barely survived the thought of him loosing her the first time, she didn't know how he would handle it this time now that they were actually together. She hopped that he wouldn't do anything rash.

"Can't you stop them closing?" Rose asked even though she knew the answer.

" _I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait, and I can't help you. Now fore God's sake, Rose, run!_ " The Doctor told her, his voice broken and desperate for her to make it. Rose placed a hand on the Adam's lower back and began to push him to go faster. Adam could not become trapped in the vault with her and the Dalek, he would not survive. The Dalek _would_ kill him. Only Rose had the chance to make it out of the vault alive.

" _Done it! We've got power to the bulkheads._ " Rose heard Van Statten inform the Doctor as she and Adam burst through the door to level 46.

" _The Dalek's right behind them._ " Goddard announced and Rose barely bit back the urge to growl at her. Like she didn't _know_ the Dalek was _right behind_ her! Bad Wolf was making damn sure of that! They rounded a corner and the bulkheads were right in front of them

"We're nearly there!" Rose cried into the phone. "Give us two seconds!" It was only then that Rose noticed that she was too close to Adam. If she didn't think of something she would make it out of the vault. Bad Wolf took action. Rose found herself tripping over her own feet, mobile skidding to the ground. Rose grunted in pain as her body slid along the concrete. She jumped up once her body came to a stop, grabbed her mobile and began to run with a slight limp. Rose was a good distance away from Adam.

" _Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads._ " She over heard as she put the mobile back to her ear.

" _I'm sorry._ " The Doctor whispered and Rose _hoped_ he was talking to her and not Van Statten, those bulkheads needed to close! There was a small alarm as the bulkhead began to close.

"Come on!" Adam called back to her as he sped up. He used his momentum to slide and barely make it under the closing bulkheads before it sealed her and the Dalek in. Rose tried to slow herself down to stop, but she couldn't and hit the metal door. Rose rested her forehead on the bulkhead.

" _Rose! Where are you? Rose, please tell me you made it! Rose!_ " The Doctor cried out as Rose slowly lifted the mobile back to her ear, her heart breaking. She really wanted to reassure him that she would be fine. That she would survive. That, once this was all said and done, they would be in the TARDIS traveling through time and space, together.

"Sorry." She told him softly, tears falling from her eyes knowing that what was bout to happen was going to break him. "I was a bit slow." Rose turned to glance behind her and saw the Dalek come around the corner. Rose took a deep breath. She needed to remain calm. She knew that the Doctor wouldn't be able to think clearly once he believed her dead. She would need to be calm for the both of them until she was back in his arms.

" _Rose, no. Please don't tell me that. Please lie to me. Tell me you've made it out. Tell me you're on your way up here._ " He begged her, the sound of his voice cracking alert her to the fact that he was crying.

"See you, then, Doctor." Rose told him.

" _Rose._ " He sobbed out.

"It wasn't your fault." Rose told him knowing he was blaming himself. She wouldn't have that. Even if she didn't some how make it out of this, Rose would not allow him to blame himself. "Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. I would have done the same if I were in your position." He chocked out a sob. "And d'you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world. If I were ever given a choice, I would choose to to everything all over again." Rose told him honestly as the Dalek made it up to her.

"Exterminate!" It yelled and Rose closed her eyes. Would it actually kill her? Would it decide to spare you once again? It shot at her.


	22. Chapter 22

**Twenty-Two**

The Doctor crumbled to the ground, tears falling from his eyes. He had killed her. He had killed his Rose. He had _known_ this place was dangerous even _before_ he had known the Dalek was here. Had _felt_ the danger when they had exited the TARDIS. He had _told_ himself to tell Rose to go back into the TARDIS. But he hadn't wanted to be away from her. Had wanted her right beside him while he checked out the signal. And now, because he had been so _stupid_ , so _selfish_ , he had _killed_ her.

The Doctor closed his eyes wishing to be able to just die. There was no reason for him to live any more. His Rose was gone. He had killed her. His actions and decisions had killed his Rose. He had trapped her in the vault with the Dalek and _killed_ her. He would no longer be able to look upon his Rose's sweet face. No longer be able to take in her calming scent, or hear or lovely voice. He would no longer be able to hold her in his arms as she slept.

The Doctor faintly felt the TARDIS brush against his mind. He _knew_ he should get up and return to the TARDIS. Should return to Jackie and inform her that he had killed her only daughter. But he just couldn't find the energy.

"Rose." The Doctor cried out.

"I'm sorry." He heard Van Statten whisper to him. Anger flooded his body, and soon it was the only thing he felt. This _human_ , this _stupid ape_ was _sorry_? Rose was right, _he_ wasn't at fault here, _Van Statten_ was. The Doctor could have _killed_ that Dalek when he had had the chance, when it was weak. But this _stupid ape_ had _stopped_ him! Hadn't wanted his _living specimen_ the _die_. And now, because of that, his Rose was dead! Faster than Van Statten's and Goddard's mind could register, the Doctor got to his feet, glaring at Van Statten.

"I promised to protect her! Rose was only here because of me, and you're _sorry_?" The Doctor growled out dangerously as he stalked over to the desk separating him from the human, fear flashing through his eyes as he tried to back away, but hit the wall. "I could have _killed_ that Dalek in its cell, but you _stopped_ me."

"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten argued. The Doctor bolted over the desk faster than Van Statten or Goddard could react causing Goddard to scream and back away. Van Statten tried to dodge to the side, but the Doctor quickly grabbed him by the collar.

"Your _collection_?!" The Doctor roared causing Van Statten to whimper in fear. "Well, was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth _my_ Rose?" His eyes flashed dangerously as he felt the true force of the Oncoming Storm awaken. Electricity began to run throughout his body, spark occasionally skipping up and down his arms. Van Statten whimpered in pain when a few sparks touched him, zapping him. "Rose was the key to making _sure_ the I got you out of here alive." The Doctor told the man darkly. Realization of the situation Van Statten had put himself in flashed through the man's eyes. The Doctor was done being the good guy. He was done saving people (human or not) like Van Statten. He was _done_.

The Doctor was going to find away to destroy that Dalek and avenge his love. And if he didn't actually die in the process, then the Doctor would collect Rose's body and take her back to her mother. He would make sure that his Rose had the perfect funeral before returning to the TARDIS and finding the closest black hole and throw him and his TARDIS into it. Because without his Rose in the universe, there was no reason for him to live.

"Let me tell you something, Van Statten." The Doctor growled at him, releasing the man and allowing him to take a breath. "Man kind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater-"

"Exactly!" Van Statten cried out, cutting him off. "I wanted to touch the stars!"

"No!" The Doctor roared causing the man to flinch away. "You didn't want to _touch_ the stars. You just wanted to _drag_ the stars down and stick them _underground_ , underneath tons of sand and dirt, and _label_ them. You're about as far from the stars as you can get." He snarled at the man, the sparks of electricity were jumping up and down his arms faster. "And you took her down with you." He told him dangerously. "She was 19 years old." The silence that covered them was thick with Van Statten's and Goddard's fear of what he would do to them.

 **~Replay~**

Rose let out a sigh of relief when she heard the shot from the Dalek's gun hit the bulkhead beside her. It had decided to spare his. Her body began shaking with both adrenaline and relief. She had survived. Her DNA had corrupted the Dalek enough to have it spare her. Rose slowed opened her eyes and turned to look ta the Dalek. It was looking at her as well. "Aren't you going to kill me?" Rose heard herself ask it. The Dalek did nothing but stare at her. "What do you want?"

"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose." It informed her and Rose knew that it was confused and angry as to why she was not dead. Fear shot through her. Would the Dalek decide to use her to have the Doctor open the bulkheads like last time or would it just grow too furious with its new feelings and take it out on her by killing her?

"They're all dead because of you!" Rose found herself yelling at the Dalek.

"They are dead because of us!" The Dalek yelled back. Pain shot through Rose, knowing that it was right. It was _her_ DNA that had given it the strength to escape and rejuvenate itself.

"And now what?" Rose asked it. "What are you waiting for?"

"I feel your fear." The Dalek told her slowly.

"What d'you expect?" Rose asked it.

"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear!" The Dalek yelled before shooting at either side of her. Rose flinched, wondering if it would kill her. "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated!" The Dalek screamed, panicking. "You have done this to me! You will undo this!"

"I can't. You took my DNA, that comes with consequences." Rose told the Dalek and flinched when it shot next to her head.

"Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!" The Dalek demanded. A picture of the Dalek killing itself from last time flew through her mind. Bad Wolf was telling her to order it to kill itself. It wouldn't get the freedom that it wanted, but at the same time the Doctor wouldn't have to feel like _he_ had to take on the Dalek.

"The only way to fix it is to kill yourself." Rose told the Dalek.

"The Daleks must survive!" The Dalek yelled at her.

"You are not a Dalek anymore!" Rose told it causing the Dalek to pause.

"What am I?" The Dalek asked her fearfully.

"You are something different, something _new_." Rose told it sadly. It was silent for a long moment.

"I will not die here." The Dalek told Rose before moving to stand next to her it's gun pointed at her, and looked up at the camera.

" _I'm not the one who sealed the vault!_ " She heard Adam yell as the connection was made between the Dalek and the building's system.

"Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies." The Dalek ordered. She heard the Doctor gasp out in shocked relief at seeing her alive.

" _You're alive!_ " He cried out.

"Can't get rid of me." Rose told him with a small smile.

" _I thought you were dead._ " The Doctor told her, his voice broken causing Rose's heart to tighten at the sound. It was even more broken then the first time around. He was never going to recover from this.

"Open the bulkhead!" The Dalek demanded.

"Don't do it!" Rose cried out.

"What use are emotions, if you will not save the woman you love?" The Dalek taunted. It was silent for a minute.

" _I killed her once. I won't do it again._ " She heard the Doctor whisper seconds before the bulkhead began to move. The Dalek cut off connections and forced Rose to walk through the open bulkhead once it was open. The trip to the lift was still long and slow, yet it seemed to go by faster than last time. Once in the lift Rose quickly hit the floor that held Van Statten's office and they began to move.

"I'm begging you, don't kill them. You didn't kill me." Rose pleaded knowing that the death of Van Statten and Goddard were still a real threat.

"But why not?" The Dalek asked her turning to look at her. "Why are you alive?" It turned back to look at the doors of the lift. "My function was to kill. What am I? What am I? What do I do now? What is my purpose now?" Rose didn't have an answer for the Dalek and they stood in silence for a few seconds before the lift dinged, alerting them that they had reached their destination. The lift doors opened to Van Statten cowering against the wall and Goddard standing off to the side, motionless with fear.

"Don't move!" Rose ordered Van Statten when she saw him getting ready to run. "Don't do anything! It's beginning to question itself." Rose informed them before following the Dalek out of the lift.

"Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?" The Dalek asked the man.

"I wanted to help you, I just... I don't know, I was trying to help." Van Statten stammered out as the Dalek drew closer to him. "I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you... I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I swear, I just wanted you to talk!" He cried once the Dalek was right in front of him.

"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Dalek cried.

"No! Don't do it! Don't kill him!" Rose yelled moving to stand in between Van Statten and the Dalek, facing the Dalek, knowing that it would not, _could not_ , kill her now. "You don't have to do this any more. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do _you_ want?" Rose watched as the Dalek's eye-stock shifted to look over her shoulder before shifting to look back at her. The Dalek looked between her and Van Statten a couple of times in a tense silence as it thought. Finally the eye-stock stayed on her.

"I want... Freedom." It told her slowly.

"Freedom? That's it?" Van Statten asked causing the Dalek to turn its attention back on the man. Rose felt him flinch.

"How do we get out of here?" Rose asked Goddard quietly.

"Through that door, to the right. The first hallway you see, make a left. Keep straight and you'll reach the ramp to the helipad." Goddard quickly told her.

"Thank you." Rose told her before turning her attention back on the Dalek who had been silently watching her. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Let's get to freedom." Rose whispered to it. The Dalek stayed there, watching her for another minute before slowly turning around and exited the room. They followed Goddard's directions for a good three minutes before the Dalek came to a stop and shot the ceiling, allowing in the sunlight. Rose stared at the sunlight in awe.

Even though she had known the probability of her surviving was high, there had still been that small chance that something could have changed. There was a chance that she would have never seen the sun again. Never seen the _Doctor_ again. But here she was. She had trusted Bad Wolf and she had _survived_.

"You're out. You made it. We made it." Rose told the Dalek. "I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again."

"How does it feel?" The Dalek asked before opening its suit. Rose moved in front of the Dalek, knowing that the Doctor would be there any second with a gun to kill the Dalek. She wouldn't have that. She would _not_ see the Doctor become a murderer. Rose understood during the war, the Doctor had to make some tough decisions, had to sacrifice what had made him _him_ to survive in the war, had to _kill_ Daleks. But that was _then_ this was _now_. Rose _would not_ allow him to go through that again. She _would not_ allow him to take another life if she could help it.

Rose stared at the creature inside the shell. It always amazed her how horrifyingly disgusting it looked. All octopus like with its tentacles covered in goo and its comically huge brain and single eyeball. Rose watched as it slowly and weakly lifted up one tentacle towards to light.

"Get outta the way!" Rose heard the Doctor order from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to find the Doctor there, his eyes flashing wildly like lightning in a storm, sparks of electricity jumping up and down his arms as he held a large blaster pointed at her and the Dalek she was standing protectively in front of. "Rose, please, get outta the way! Now!"

"No!" Rose told him with a shake of the head hoping that he wasn't too far gone in his anger and fear. "'Cause I won't let you do this."

"That _thing_ killed hundreds of people." The Doctor growled at her.

"Because of me, Doctor." She told him softly. "It was _my_ DNA that rejuvenated it. If you're going to blame it, then you'll have to blame me as well." The electricity stopped jumping up and down his arms as his eyes stopped flashing wildly.

"Rose, please, I've got to do this. I've got to end it." The Doctor begged her. "The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left!"

"You've got me. And you've got the TARDIS." Rose told him and the Doctor lowered the gun a little. "Besides, look at it." Rose shifted just enough to give the Doctor a good view of the Dalek yet still blocking it enough to keep the Doctor from killing it.

"What's it doing?" The Doctor asked in confusion.

"It's the sunlight. That's all it wants." Rose told him.

"But it can't..." The Doctor said, his mind not able to comprehend what he was seeing.

"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me. It's changing. My DNA is changing it. It is no longer a Dalek. It is part Dalek part Rose Tyler. What about you, Doctor? What are you allowing yourself to change into?" Rose explained and the Doctor dropped the gun to the ground staring at her in desperation.

"Oh Rose. I thought I'd lost you. I had nothing left to live for. I just wanted to end it all. I couldn't stand to live in a world without you. I _wouldn't_ live in a world without out." The Doctor told her, tears falling from his eyes. Rose was reminded of the Time Line where she failed, how the Doctor had allowed himself to just fade away into nothing until both he and the TARDIS had died. "They're all dead, Rose. My people are all gone. _You_ are the only thing making life worth living."

"Why do we survive?" The Dalek asked him.

"I don't know." The Doctor told it.

"I am the last of the Daleks." The Dalek said.

"You're not even that. Rose was right, her DNA did more than regenerate you. It's changed you, _mutated_ you." The Doctor informed the Dalek cementing what Rose had tried to explain to it earlier.

"Into what?" The Dalek asked.

"Something new." The Doctor told it. "I'm sorry."

"I can feel so many ideas." The Dalek said slowly. "So much darkness. Rose. Give me orders. Order me to die. This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you! Order my destruction!"

"Do it." Rose whispered to it, tears in her eyes.

"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?" It asked her and Rose almost wanted to laugh. This was quickly becoming their inside joke.

"Yes." Rose told it.

"So am I." The Dalek informed her. "Exterminate." It said before the shell closed. Rose quickly made her way over to the Doctor. The Doctor pulled her into his arms as she gripped onto him while they watched as the Dalek levitated before the metal balls in the outside of it's bottom half of the shell surrounded the Dalek in an electromagnetic field before the Dalek imploded. Rose buried her head into the Doctor's chest as he buried his nose in her hair.

It was silent between them. They didn't need to speak. There was nothing that they could say that their presence near the other couldn't say. They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a long five minutes, just enjoying being with the others.

"I never did get to take you on that trip." The Doctor muttered causing Rose to give a wet laugh.

"Right now, Doctor, all I want is to go back home to the TARDIS. I want to take a nice, long, relaxing bath with you, before curling up in bed and just staying there, with you, in the TARDIS for the next couple of days." Rose told him.

"I think that can be done." The Doctor told her before he lead them back towards where they had left the TARDIS.

 **~Replay~**

"Little piece of home." The Doctor whispered, his head resting on the outside of the TARDIS, his eyes closed as he took in the feel of her in his mind while he lovingly stoked her. "Better than nothing."

"Is that the end of it? The Time War?" Rose asked knowing that it was far from over. It wouldn't be over until she became Bad Wolf once more and erased the Daleks on the Game Station.

"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?" The Doctor said dryly as she caught the sound of Adam running up to them. She bit back a groan, knowing that after everything the Doctor had just gone though, he was not going to be happy about having Adam on board. That was if even _allowed_ Adam on board.

 _Do not worry, My Wolf. The Doctor will allow the boy on, me and Bad Wolf will make sure of it._ The TARDIS whispered to her.

"We'd better get out." Adam said coming to a stop next to Rose. She shifted so that she was closer to the Doctor and the TARDIS than Adam. "Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're gonna fill it full of cement, like it never existed!"

"'Bout time." Rose said.

"I'll have to go back home." Adam told her.

"Better hurry up, then." The Doctor growled at him, gaining Adam's attention. "Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours." Rose felt a mental nudge from both the TARDIS and Bad Wolf and knew that it was time to ask for Adam to join them. Rose gently laid her hand on the Doctor's arm, gaining his attention.

"Adam was saying that all his life, he wanted to see the stars." Rose told him, the Doctor's eyes hardened.

"Tell him to go and stand outside, then." The Doctor growled.

"He's all on his own, Doctor. And he did help." Rose heard herself say, the Doctor's eyes flashed in anger.

"He left you down there!" The Doctor reminded her.

"So did you." Rose heard herself remind him and mentally sucked in a breath. "Just _one_ trip? To say 'Thanks'?"

"What are you talking about? We've got to leave!" Adam cried, moving to take Rose's hand and pull her away, but Rose quickly moved her hand out of the way.

"Plus, he's a bit pretty." The Doctor told her glaring at Adam.

"You're the only I've got eyes for." Rose told him honestly, the Doctor smirked at the boy before taking Rose by the hand.

"If he gives us any trouble, I'm tossing him out of the airlock." The Doctor joked as he quickly dug out his TARDIS key and unlocked the door.

"Come along, Adam." Rose called back as she allowed the Doctor to lead her into the TARDIS.

"What are you doing? She said cement. She wasn't joking, we're gonna get sealed in!" Adam called from outside the TARDIS as Rose and the Doctor walked up the ramp towards the console.

"So much for that bath." Rose heard the Doctor mutter.

"Come here." Rose said pulling the Doctor towards her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. "It's just gonna be one trip. Not like we're gonna keep him. We'll show him to his guest room, let him get settled, then have that bath. It's not like the TARDIS will _allow_ him to wander around her unaccompanied. Who knows what he'll do."

"Rose? What are you doing standing inside a box?" Adam called out, still outside the TARDIS.

"If he harms my TARDIS, I'll seriously toss him out into a black hole or something." The Doctor told her seriously.

"He's not gonna harm our TARDIS. She won't allow him." Rose told the Doctor before giving him a kiss. She knew the second Adam had stepped into the TARDIS, for the Doctor's hand quickly grabbed her ass possessively as he bent her slightly backwards while deepening the kiss. The Doctor was staking his claim.

"Down boy. We've still got to get Adam settled into his guest room." Rose whispered onto the Doctor's lips as she pulled away.

"It-it's bigger on the inside!" Adam claimed, looking like he was going to faint as he dropped the bags the Rose just noticed he was carrying onto the floor while the TARDIS closed the door behind him.

"At least wait until we get you to your room to pass out. I am _not_ gonna drag your arse to your room." The Doctor growled at him as he quickly set to work in setting them to drift in the Vortex.

"I wasn't going to pass out." Adam told the Doctor defiantly.

"Right, so your knees weren't just shaking and your body wasn't feeling faint. If you're going to waist my time with lying then just stop talking. Follow me, your room temporary room is this way." The Doctor told him as he quickly turned and began to walk towards the hallway that held the guest rooms. Rose had never been down that hallway, not even the first time the Doctor had allowed Adam to travel with them. He had sent her to her room for a nice, relaxing bath. And Jack hadn't been given a room in the guest wing, he had been given his own room near hers and the Doctor's rooms. Rose quickly followed after them, wanting to see what the guest rooms looked like.

They came to a metal, spaceship looking door. The Doctor hit a button and the door slid upwards, like one would expect a door to do on a spaceship. Rose glanced into the room and blinked. It was barely the size of a closet. It had just enough space for a small cot, a small toilet, a tiny sink on the right wall and a small metal table with a metal stool and a tiny locker on the left. Prisoners got more room in their cells than this. Was this how every guest room looked?

 _No, just Adam's._ The TARDIS informed her and Rose nearly laughed.

' _You really don't like him, do you?_ ' Rose asked her as she watched as Adam slowly entered the room, looking around in despair at the size of it.

 _Hate him, really. If he wasn't needed I would never have even allowed him on board._ The TARDIS told her.

"Is this my room?" Adam asked.

"Is there a problem with the room?" The Doctor asked.

"It's tiny! There barely enough room for _me_ in it! There's no place to put my clothes! And there's not even a shower!" Adam cried. The Doctor lent forward to stick his head in the room to look around.

"You've got a bed, a toilet, sink, a desk and chair, and even a locker. The communal showers are right across the hall," the Doctor pointed towards the second metal door across the hall, "what more do you need for one trip on the TARDIS?"

"Space to move around?" Adam asked.

"What do you need that for? It's not like you're staying. You're getting one trip and then we're dropping you off home." The Doctor told him. Adam went to argue but was cut off by a loud, angry hum from the TARDIS as she dimmed the lights. "Right, its your curfew. Good night." The Doctor pulled his head out of the room and shut the door, locking it.

"Don't I get to have a shower?" Adam called through the door after trying, and failing, to get the door to open.

"You wasted the time you could have had to shower by complaining." The Doctor told him.

"You can't leave me locked in here like some prisoner!" Adam yelled.

"When there's someone available to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't do anything to my ship, then the door will be unlocked." The Doctor informed him.

"'When there's someone available to keep an eye on me'? I'm not some child that need a babysitter! And anyway, why can't you or Rose 'keep an eye on me'?" Adam asked angrily causing the Doctor to smirk.

"Because I'm about to take Rose back to _our_ room, run her a nice relaxing bath. After _our_ bath, I'm then gonna take her to _our_ bed and fuck her until she can't walk anymore." The Doctor said causing Rose to blush and her lower lips clench at the thought of him inside her. Without another word, the Doctor took Rose by the hand and led her out of the guest wing and to their room, where the TARDIS had a nice relaxing bath waiting for them.


	23. Chapter 23

**Twenty-Three**

Rose woke up to the sound of the Doctor's double heart beat and her head on his bare chest, with a glance up at his face, Rose saw that the Doctor was still asleep. She smiled and shifted so that she could rest her arms under her chin and watch him sleep. It had always been a rare moment when she had stumbled upon the Doctor's sleeping form, but she had always enjoyed watching him sleep when she did. The pain and darkness that his body always seemed to carry disappeared when he was asleep.

Rose smiled wider when she felt the Doctor give a deep sigh before his beautiful steel-blue eyes slowly opened and instantly found her eyes. "Morning." He said, his voice deep with sleep.

"Time is irrelevant in the TARDIS. There is no day or night." Rose quoted him with a loving smile and received a laugh before she was pulled into a kiss. The Doctor rolled her onto her back.

"Last night was amazing, thank you." The Doctor whispered against her lips.

"Shouldn't _I_ be the one to thank _you_?" Rose asked with a small laugh and the Doctor shook his head.

"Nope. one should always thank a Goddess for any attention they receive from her." The Doctor told her.

"I'm no Goddess." Rose told him with a whisper. _Sh_ e wasn't the Goddess, _Bad Wolf_ was.

"You are _my_ Goddess." The Doctor told her with such conviction that is brought a tear to her eyes.

"Doctor." She whispered and went to pull him down to for a kiss when the Doctor dropped his head to rest on her shoulder with an annoyed sigh.

"It seems that our _guest_ has been trying to get his bedroom door open and has annoyed the TARDIS enough to the point that she is _demanding_ that I do something with him." The Doctor informed her. Neither of the moved for a long minute. "Alright! I'm going!" The Doctor growled before he rolled off of Rose. He began to look for his clothes that. "Where are my clothes?" The Doctor asked looking up at the ceiling, alerting Rose that he was asking the TARDIS. "Well, how am I supposed to _deal_ with him if I don't have my clothes?" There was a pause before the Doctor walked into the closet. Rose sat up on her arms and waited, a couple of minutes later the Doctor strolled out of the closet fully dressed. "Well, isn't that a gorgeous sight." The Doctor told her, eyeing her up. Rose glanced at herself. She was naked and the sheet was bundled on her hips, exposing her breasts.

"You go deal with Adam, let him take a shower or something, and I'll go make us some breakfast." Rose told him as she started to get up.

"Like that? Because you know that _I_ don't mind you looking like that, but if you want that _boy_ to live long enough to make it to wherever we decide to take him for his 'thank you trip', I'll have to ask you to cover up." The Doctor told her with smirk.

"Oh I was thinking I'd just wear one of your jumpers, and only one of your jumpers." Rose told him with a wink.

"Rose." The Doctor half whined half growled and looked like he was about to pounce on her when the TARDIS flashed her lights and hummed angrily. The Doctor growled angrily before storming out of their room, a dark aura covering and Rose just _knew_ he was going to take his anger and annoyance out on Adam. Rose sighed and shook her head before she quickly got dressed in tight, yet movable black pu leather pants, and a pink and black zip up shirt. She headed to the back room and brushed her hair and pulled it into a ponytail while leaving some bangs down to frame her face. She then quickly put on some light make-up before leaving the room and making her way to the kitchen.

"Thank you, girl." Rose told the TARDIS when she saw the ingredients to make a full English breakfast. With all the exercise she was getting, she needed the extra calories. Rose washed her hands before beginning to prepare them all an English breakfast.

"If you want breakfast then get in there!" She heard the Doctor growl just as she finished plating the last plate. She looked up to see Adam stumble into the kitchen, most likely having been pushed. "Go find a seat and sit down." The Doctor ordered as he followed Adam in. "This looks and smells lovely, thank you, love." He said making his way over to her and kissed her deeply before taking two of the plates and carried them over to the table. He sat one plate in front of Adam before taking a seat himself. Rose carried her plate over and sat next to the Doctor, taking his hand in hers.

"So, um, Rose," Adam started with a cough as he picked up his fork and began to pick at his breakfast, "I don't know if you're aware, but the walls of this place aren't as, uh, _thick_ as you thought."

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked.

"You're room is right next to mine, right? I know, because I heard you and the Doctor all last night." Adam informed her, his face red with both embarrassment and anger.

"Um, Adam, our room isn't any where near yours." Rose told him.

"Then we share an air duct, either way, I heard you." Adam snapped out. There was an awkward silence between Rose and Adam for a few seconds before the Doctor began to laugh. "What's so funny."

"Just the fact that even my ship is trying to drive home the fact that you'll _never_ have Rose." The Doctor told Adam with a proud smirk. "She piped in the sound of our love making into his room." He explained to her at her raised eyebrow.

"Oh, my God!" Rose cried out before covering her face in embarrassment.

"What do you mean 'she piped in the sound'? _Who_ piped in the sound? Is there someone else besides the two of you on this ship?" Adam asked.

" _She_ ," The Doctor said motioning to the room, to the TARDIS, "the _ship_ , my _TARDIS_ , piped in the sound. She's _alive_."

"Right, a living ship." Adam snorted, "And Rose thinks _I'm_ the nutter." He went to take a bite of his breakfast, but his fork and plate suddenly disappeared. "What the-?" Adam fell to the ground as his chair disappeared. "What's going on?" Adam scrabbled up, using the wall to help his up. "Ow!" He cried and pulled his hand from the wall shaking it.

"She took offense." The Doctor told Adam simply as he took a bite of his breakfast.

"What?" Adam asked glaring at him.

"My ship, the TARDIS, took offense. You offended her so she took your food and your chair away, before shocking you." The Doctor explained.

"You might want to apologize to her, or you might find your room without a bed, or the toilet." Rose told him as she began to eat her own breakfast.

"You're all nutters." Adam muttered. "Ow! Ow! Alright! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Adam cried as the floor under his feet began to heat up to the point that it was burning him through his shoes. Adam stopped dancing around as his chair appeared back in front of him. He cautiously sat down and stared at the empty place where his plate had been minutes before.

 _He'll need to be hungry enough to eat on Satellite Five._ The TARDIS explained and Rose pictured the woman from her dreams glaring at Adam with a tight lip look.

"So, uh, where are we headed?" Adam asked awkwardly.

"Don't know, haven't figure that out. Might just set the TARDIS on random and let her decide." The Doctor explained. Rose and the Doctor quickly finished their breakfast before placing their dishes in the 34th century dishwasher and leading Adam into the console room. Rose quickly hopped onto the captain's chair as the Doctor set the destination on 'random'. "Temporary guests are not allowed on that chair." The Doctor called out, without looking from what he was doing, as Adam started to sit beside her on the captain's chair.

"But there's no where else to sit." Adam pointed out

"Shit!" Rose called when the TARDIS suddenly swung the chair away from Adam when he tried to once more to sit beside her.

 _'A little warning would have been nice!'_ Rose mentally yelled at the TARDIS as she gripped onto the chair to keep from falling off. She felt a wave of apologetic feeling hit her and knew that the TARDIS had reacted without much thought, having wanting to keep Adam away from her.

 _I am sorry, My Wolf, but Adam does not seem to get the message that you belong with My Thief. He wishes to try and get close to you to try and steal you from my Thief._ Rose bit back a groan and rolled her eyes. She hadn't even flirted with him to get him to take her to the Doctor this time around!

"Adam, just find a place to lean against, because I do not wish to play a game of 'keep away from Rose and the captain's chair'!" Rose ordered when she caught sight of Adam making his way over to where the TARDIS had swung the chair. Adam sighed in annoyance before leaning against the railing. They landed with a rough bump, sending Adam to the ground. "Right, Adam, you stay in here until called for while me and the Doctor go check out where we are." Rose said quickly sliding off the chair and made her way down the ramp, the Doctor right behind her.

Rose opened the door and glanced around at the storage/break room area that they had landed in before stepping out with the Doctor right behind her, closing the door as he did so. "I'm sure you want to know where we are before we tell him."

"That's be nice, yeah." Rose joked.

"Best make this quick, don't want him in there alone for any longer than need be, might start _touching_ things." The Doctor said as he glanced around. "So, it's 200,000, it's a spaceship... No, wait a minute, space station."

"What's through that door?" Rose asked nodding towards the door across from them.

"That's an observation deck." The Doctor told her.

"How much you want to bet that when we show Adam how the Earth looks now, he'll pass out? 10 quid?" Rose asked and the Doctor shook his head.

"Rose, it would be unfair of me to take your money. We both know he's not going to make it past this room." The Doctor told her with a smirk.

"20 quid it is!" Rose said before opening the TARDIS door. "Adam! Out you come." An annoyed looking Adam glared at her as he stepped out of the TARDIS. His look slowly changed from annoyed to amazed as he caught sight of the room.

"Oh, my God." Adam breathed out looking around the room in awe.

"The year is 200,000 and this is a space station orbiting around the Earth, also known as a satellite." Rose told him. "It's a bit warm in here, they could turn the heating down." She complained wiping the sweat from her brow. "Tell you what, there's an observation deck thought that door, let's go see how much the Earth has changed." Rose said, taking the Doctor's hand before heading towards the door. "Come on." She called back to Adam.

"You're rushing him from the room to keep him from passing out in this room, cheater." The Doctor whispered as they walked through the door.

"Here we go." Rose said as they cam to the observation window. "Care to explain what we're looking at Doctor?"

"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is. Planet Earth, at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population 96 billion, the hub of galactic domain stretching across a million planets, the hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle." The Doctor explained seconds before Adam dropped. Rose smirked and held out her hand waiting for the money. "Cheater." He growled at her playfully as he dug through his pockets before pulling out his wallet that he had begun carrying after their first date, causing Rose to laugh.

"Sore looser." Rose said as he handed her the money before turning to look at Adam on the floor. "Should we-?"

"Just leave him, he should be up and about soon." The Doctor told her before releasing her hand to wrap it around her waist, and pull her to him. "I don't like him."

"I know, but if it's any consolation, neither do I." Rose told the Doctor, hugging him.

"Then why is he here?" The Doctor asked.

"We're taking him on a 'thank you for helping us' trip." Rose told him.

"How, exactly, did he help us?" The Doctor asked and Rose was silent as she tried to come up with an excuse of how Adam had helped them. "Exactly, he didn't. So I'll ask again: Why is he here? Why did you so _desperately_ want him to come with us even though you knew I wouldn't want him on board my ship."

"Do you want the truth?" Rose hear herself ask quietly. Was Bad Wolf really going to tell the Doctor why they needed to bring Adam here?

"That would be nice, yes. Because, truthfully, right now, I'm beginning to suspect that the only reason you wanted him on board is as eye candy." The Doctor told her and she pulled back to look at him in shock.

"Eye candy? Really? _Him_? Sure he's got a boyish charm to him, but he's not nearly at the level of eye candy. I mean he doesn't even have baby doll blue eyes," Her mind pulled up the image of Jack, "sure he's got the right color hair and hair cut, but it's not styled correctly. And he doesn't even have a long coat that can flap behind him when he runs. Nor does he have the title of Captain." Rose told the Doctor.

"I see you've been thinking about this." The Doctor growled.

"I've _very_ picky about my eye candy." Rose joked causing the Doctor to laugh.

"Well, you won't hear _me_ complaining about that. Because if you're _too_ picky, we'll never stumble upon the perfect eyes candy for you." The Doctor told her and Rose laughed. "But the question still stands. If Adam isn't here to be eye candy, then why is he here?"

"Punishment." Rose heard herself say.

"Punishment? For who?" The Doctor asked.

"For Adam. Being allowed one trip to see what is out there then being drop off at home will be worse than not ever knowing what is out there. And for a guy like Adam that's going to kill him." Rose heard herself explain. _'And he's only going to make it worse for himself.'_ She added silently remembering what Adam does to himself. It was silent for a moment before the Doctor began to laugh, pulling Rose flush against him.

"Remind me never to piss you off, love." The Doctor said with a smile. His smile widened when Adam groaned alerting them that he was coming too.

"Oh God, it wasn't a dream." Adam moaned when his eyes opened and saw that he was still on the observation deck.

"Come on, Adam, open your mind." The Doctor said as he released Rose to help Adam off the ground suddenly very okay with Adam being there with them. "You're gonna like this fantastic period of history," he began to lead them from the observation deck to the main hub, "the human race at its most intelligent." Rose took the Doctor's hand and looked around the main room of the hub. The walls were still as rusty as she remembered, a few of the kiosks were broken down with wires sticking out of it, the air was smoky, and this room was a lot hotter than the observation desk. "Culture! Art! Politics! This era has got fine foods, good manner, the work..."

"Outta the way!" Someone rudely growled, pushing past Rose, knocking her into the Doctor with a grunt, cutting the Doctor off. Before Rose or the Doctor could react to the person, the hub that had once been void of people was suddenly bustling with vendors opening and workers lining up. The quiet room was suddenly filled with noise of people ordering and yelling out orders.

"Oi! You, mate! Stop pushing. Get back! I said back!" Rose heard as she made her way to glance at the menu of the kiosk closest to them.

"Fine cuisine?" Rose asked.

"My watch must be wrong." The Doctor said as she made her way back to him and Adam. "No, it's fine." He muttered as he checked his watch. "That's weird."

"They're all human. What about the millions of planets, millions of species, where are they?" Adam asked looking around at everyone.

"Good question." The Doctor muttered as he, too, looked around. "Actually, that _is_ a good question. Adam, me old mate, you must be starving! You didn't get breakfast!" The Doctor cried before latching onto the back of Adam and began to lead him towards the closest kiosk.

"No, I'm not hungry anymore. I think I'm just time sick." Adam told him, eyeing the Doctor.

"You just need grub." The Doctor told him before turning to look at the vendor. "Oi, mate! How much is a kronkburger?"

"Two credits twenty, sweetheart. Now, join the queue!" The vendor told them motioning towards the end of the line.

"Money! We need money." The Doctor said before leading them away from the kiosk as he pulled out his screwdriver, while leading them towards a cash point. "Let's use a cash point." He quickly soniced the machine before taking the long tube like credit stick. "There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets." He told Adam as he handed the credit stick to the boy before taking Rose's hand in his. Rose was happy that she wasn't assigned as Adam's babysitter this time.

"Well, how does it work?" Adam asked as the Doctor began to lead Rose away.

"Go and find out, stop nagging me!" The Doctor snapped out. "The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guidebook, you gotta through yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs," Rose smiled at him, "get charged double and end up kissing complete stranger." Rose's smile left her face remembering Reinette. "Or is that just me?" The look on the Doctor's face caused a small chuckle from her lips. "Anyway, stop asking questions, go on do it!" He shooed Adam away. Her mobile flashed through her mind. She needed to give him her mobile.

"Adam! Wait!" Rose cried before pulling out her mobile and handed it to him. "It's been zapped, can get any signal any where. Take it. In case you get lost, we'll be able to phone you. You can even call your mum if you want." She explained.

"But that's 198,000 years ago." Adam told her.

"Honestly, try it. Go on." Rose urged him knowing that he needed to know that he could call his mum for him to turn himself into a human computer with a door in his forehead to finish the punishment.

"Is there a code for planet Earth?" He asked.

"Just dial!" Rose snapped at him. Adam sighed and rolled his eyes before calling his mum.

these

"It's her!" He whispered in shock when he heard her voice. "Hi. It.. it's me. I've sort of gone traveling. I met these people, and we're traveling together."

"This is only a one trip deal!" The Doctor told him receiving a glare from Adam.

"But, um, I'm fine. And I'll call you later. Love you. Bye." He finished his message. "What- how-?"

"Right, like I said no questions. Off you go, then." The Doctor said before gently turning Adam around and pushed him towards the kiosk.

"Right, time to see what's going on here." Rose said before noticing Cathica and Suki walking along the wall before leading the Doctor over to them.

"Sorry, I know this is gonna sound quite daft, but could you please tell us where we are?" Rose asked them.

"Floor 139." Cathica told her looking at her like she was stupid while pointing at the large numbers on the wall. "Could they write it any bigger?"

"Floor 139 of what?" The Doctor asked glaring at the woman.

"Must have been a hell of a party." Cathica muttered.

"You're on Satellite Five." Suki told them with a small smile.

"And what is Satellite Five?" Rose asked her.

"Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?" Cathica asked.

"Look at us, we're stupid." The Doctor growled at her.

"Hold on, wait a minute. Are you a test?" Suki asked looking between Rose and the Doctor. "Some sort of management test kind of thing?"

"Guess we we're as subtle as we were hoping to be." Rose told her sheepishly as the Doctor pulled out his psychic paper.

"Well done. You're too clever for us." The Doctor told her flashing the paper at them.

"We were warned about this is basic training." Suki whispered to Cathica. "All workers have to be versed in company promotion."

"Right." Cathica said with a nod. "Of course, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor 500, I'll do anything." Rose barely stopped herself from telling Cathica that she didn't want to go up to Floor 500, that she should be glad to be alive and safe down here.

"Why? What happens on Floor 500?" Cathica told him. "And you should know, Mr. Management."

"Is that what the rumor is? We thought y'all were saying that the walls were made of 'cold'." Rose told her with a small, forced laugh, causing Cathica and Suki to fake a laugh as well.

"So, this is what we do." Cathica said before walking over to a wall full of screens showing nothing but the news. "Latest news. Sand storms on the New Venus Archipelago, 200 dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane 77 closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe had just announced he's pregnant." Rose blinked at that. Jack _was_ what? And she didn't even get an _invite_ to the baby shower? Rude.

"I get it. You broadcast the new." The Doctor said with a nod of his head.

"We are the news." Cathica told him proudly. "We're the journalists." Rose caught Suki looking at her with a knowing look, had she seen past the psychic paper? If so, what was this girl up to? Why hadn't she ratted them out? When Suki caught her looking, she a wink. "We write it, package it and sell it. 600 channels, all coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole Human Empire without it going through us."

"All staff are reminded that the canteen area now operates a self-cleaning table system. Thank you." Rose heard announced before the alarm for everyone to return to their work sounded.

"Oi, A Levels! Over here!" The Doctor yelled over at Adam.

"Trainee. Been doing this all day, he's not used to it. Told him to take a break." Rose explained at the questioning look from Cathica. "Right, you've passed this first test, next up is to see how you handle the job itself."

"Right, of course." Cathica said as Adam made his way over to them. "Follow me, our office is this way." She nervously lead them into a pure white room that had a horse shoe shaped desk with seven cushions around the outside and a large chair in the middle of it. The Doctor, Rose, and Adam stood off to the side, watching as Cathica greeted all of her underlings as they entered the room and took their place at the desk.

"Now, everybody behave." Cathica started once everyone had settled into their spots and the doors had closed. "We have a management inspection." She looked over at them. "How do you want it? By the book?"

"Right from the scratch, thanks." The Doctor told her.

"Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multisex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a 'C', in case you wanna write to Floor 500, praising me, and please do." Cathica told them. "Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest and beyond bias. That's company policy." Cathica said before smiling at them.

"Actually, um, it's the law." Suki cut in.

"Yes, thank you, Suki." Cathica hissed out, glaring at her. "Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests." Cathica said as she walked over to the middle chair and sat in it, getting comfortable. "Here we go. And... Engage safety." The seven people around the table placed their hands over the table, above were their hands were designated to be placed as the lights in the walls light up, blinding Rose for a second. Cathica snapped and the door in her forehead opened, showing her brain, the seven people placed theirs hands on the console. "And three... Two... And spike!" A beam on light shot into Cathica's brain.

"Compressed information streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head." The Doctor explained. "She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer!"

"How is she not a genius if it all goes through her?" Rose asked, knowing the answer, but also knowing that Adam wouldn't ask the right questions, too focused on the fact that she had a door in her forehead.

"She won't remember any of it." The Doctor said as he began to walk around the room, examining everyone and everything while being careful of not touching any of them. "There's too much. Her head would blow up." Rose began to followed him. "The brain's the processor. Soon as it closes, she forgets."

"And these people round the edge? What are they for?" Rose asked.

"They've all got tiny little chips in their head connecting them to her, and they transmit 600 channels." The Doctor explained as Rose knelt down in between two of the people and examined them, careful not to touch them. "Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place." The Doctor had made it back to where Adam was standing. "Now, that's what I call power." Rose noticed how pale and nauseous looking Adam had gotten and stood up. She quickly made her way over to Adam, it would do them no good if he threw up all over these poor people.

"You all right?" She asked him.

"I can see her brain." Adam told her.

"Do you want to get out?" Rose asked him.

"No, no this... This technology, it's... It's amazing." Adam stumbled out glancing between her and the Doctor and knew he was trying to force himself to see just as excited and interested as they were, as the Doctor was.

"This technology's wrong." The Doctor told them.

"Trouble?" Rose asked with a small smirk.

"Oh, yeah." The Doctor smiled at her, seconds later Suki gasped and pulled her hands off the console as it zapped her, turning off the wall lights and cutting off the beam of light from Cathica's brain.

"Come off it, Suki, I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?" Cathica demanded.

"Sorry. It must've been a glitch." Cathica sighed and got off the chair.

"Promotion." A woman announced before the wall across from the Doctor, Rose, and Adam turned into a screen.

"Come on, this is it, come on!" Cathica began to chant. "Oh, my God, make it me! Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name!"

"Promotion for..." The woman began, "Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to Floor 500." Cathica's hopeful expression quickly turned into one of disappointment and jealousy.

"I don't believe it! Floor 500!" Suki whispered and Rose had to keep herself from tearing up, she couldn't save her, Suki _had_ to die, her death was a fixed point in time.

"How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you!" Cathica growled out.

"I don't know, I just applied on the off chance. And they've said yes!" Suki cheered.

"So not fair. I've been applying to Floor 500 for three years!"

"What's Floor 500?" Adam asked.

"The walls are made of gold." Rose told him as the Doctor glared at the situation alerting Rose that his mind was racing as he tried to understand what was happening and how everything had got so messed up.


End file.
